Psychopath
by proudtobepurple
Summary: Shawn is kidnapped. But why? that's all I'm willing to give away at this point. some Shules cuz it's cute. Rated T for shameless Shawn whumping...poor guy
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, so I'm new to Psych stories and not as goofy and ADHD as Shawn so I might not be quite as in-character as I want to be...but that's what your reviews are for right? ;) I love this show but my cousin and I agreed that Shawn should get beat up a little more. Those are always the best episodes. Anyway that's where this came from. Hope you enjoy it! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Psych. Never did, never will. Although I'm glad the guy who owns it does! Anybody read the article where he said that he wants to see Shawn and Jules get married? :D He's got to be an awesome guy! lol**

**Psychopath**

Chapter 1

It started out as a normal day at Psych. Shawn got to the office early – well, early at least by his standards. Ten o'clock was early right? He rode his motorcycle in. He had been riding it more often lately because he knew as soon as he proposed to Juliet, (which he was planning on doing in the very near future) he would probably have to make good on his promise and trade it in for a car.

Gus was out doing his rounds before he came in, and there were no cases at the moment, so Shawn flopped down on the couch to watch the newest episode of Burn Notice that he had recorded. He and Jules were planing on watching it tonight and he wanted to be able to "psychically" tell her what was going to happen next. It was about ten thirty and the show was just starting to get crazy when Shawn's cell phone rang. He picked it up without looking at the caller ID. It was either Gus, Jules, the chief, or his dad.

This time it was Gus.

"Shawn?"

"Hey buddy, what's up?"

"Shawn, someone just tried to run me off the road!" Shawn immediately turned off the TV and grabbed his keys and motorcycle helmet.

"Gus, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…it's just…" his voice died out for a moment and Shawn panicked a little.

"Gus?"

"Sorry Shawn, I'm fine, really. It was just really weird. The guy ran me off the road and then stared into my car before driving away. Almost like he was looking for something."

"Where are you Gus? I'm going to come meet you. We can go out for tacos once I'm sure you're ok."

Gus paused before coming to the decision that he may as well get tacos with his friend to calm down. He was done with his route anyway, and he didn't want to worry Shawn. "I'm on the highway. At the overpass right before the Sue Street exit. I'll meet you at the Speedway right off the highway."

"Sounds good buddy. I'll be there in ten." Shawn hung up, leaving Gus to wonder why he had agreed to eat this early. Oh well, Shawn never had been one to follow a normal schedule for anything, but especially not for food. Gus pulled into a parking space at Speedway and turned the Echo off. Maybe he could catch up on a little sleep while he waited for Shawn.

A half-hour later Gus was starting to get worried. There was very little traffic on the highway and even with Shawn's usual ADHD tendencies, he should be here by now. He resisted the urge to call Juliet for another ten minutes, but still Shawn didn't show. He had already tried to call Shawn several times with no answer. Finally he gave in and called Juliet.

"Detective O'Hara speaking," the peppy voice announced.

"Juliet?" Gus started, but she cut him off.

"Gus! Hi! Hey, are you and Shawn coming by the station today? I had something I wanted to tell him but he's not answering his cell."

"Actually that's why I'm calling. Shawn was supposed to meet me at the Speedway on Sue Street forty-five minutes ago and he's not here yet. And he's not picking up his cell phone for me either."

Juliet's voice was laced with concern as she tried to put what Gus was saying together.

"Could he just be off…somewhere? You know how he gets sometimes."

"The Psych office is only ten minutes away though. I allotted plenty of time, even for his extra excursions," Gus protested.

"Well…I'm technically not allowed to do anything until he's been missing for forty-eight hours, but why don't you come down to the station and we'll see what we can do."

Gus nodded, even though there was no one there to see. "Alright. I'm on my way." Gus hung up with Juliet and pulled out of the Speedway.

_I hope Shawn is ok, _he thought to himself. _I'm sure he'll be fine. He's just being Shawn. _But inside his gut he had a feeling that something was very wrong.

**Love it? Hate it? (hope not the 2nd one) I know it starts off slow but it will get better I promise! :) Don't be gooey chocolate chip cookies! Review! Give me tips! I'm REALLY new here.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here's chapter 2 for you all! Hope you enjoy! I'm going to try to post about once a week. Not much Shawn whump in this one but next chapter... *Laughs evily* :) Review! I love getting the e-mails! You guys are awesome! **

Chapter 2

Shawn was riding fast. Maybe a little too fast, but that's what gave him the adrenaline rush. He was having a good time, although he always did when he was on his bike, but his mind kept going back through his conversation with Gus, painstakingly analyzing every little detail of what Gus had said. Why would somebody run the blueberry off the road and then just leave? His mind skipped (that would be the ADD) from Gus to the time the blueberry got crushed by the giant donut. That made him think of how he was drugged, and how he had called Juliet.

Ah Jules. He smiled but ended up sputtering as a bug flew into his mouth. That was the only bad thing about having a motorcycle. Well that, and it only seated two. No room for a family.

He glanced back in his mirrors, getting ready to change lanes when he saw a black SUV behind him. Hmm…strange…he could swear he had seen it before. And it had to belong to someone bad, I mean, in the movies the bad guys always drove black SUVs.

His mind stopped bouncing for just long enough to have a revelation. The guy who had pulled Gus off the road wasn't looking for Gus. The guy was looking for him. His revelation came too late. He tried to turn off toward the next exit but the SUV confirmed his "bad guy car" suspicion by pulling up beside him. He was a good driver, but as the SUV jerked toward him he lost control of his bike. He was suddenly free-falling, hearing his dad's voice in his head. _I told you that you were going to get killed someday on that thing. _Then he struck the pavement and everything went black.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Juliet paced in front of the chief's office. Back and forth. Back and forth. She stopped suddenly and grinned, hearing Shawn's voice asking, "forth? What is this, the 1800's?"

Another voice that sounded suspiciously like Gus' argued, "It's from the Middle Ages Shawn. And it's old English. It means to go out as in going forth to war."

"Then why not say forth and back? That would make way more sense," Shawn countered.

"That's just how it's said Shawn."

"Gus, don't be a trick or treat bucket with no treats in it."

Juliet sighed. She had been spending _way _too much time with Shawn _and _Gus. She should insist on a night with just Shawn…that is, once they actually found Shawn.

She started pacing again.

Any minute she would see him walk through the door of the police station, perfectly fine. He would be fine. But five minutes later it was not Shawn, but Gus who walked through the door.

"Gus!" she stopped her pacing and ran over to him. "Have you heard from him?

Gus shook his head. "No."

She was about to reply when a gruff voice barked her name. "O'Hara!"

She rolled her eyes to Gus, making them both grin a little. It felt good to grin. "Yes Carlton?"

He eyed Gus suspiciously and then took her arm and led her into the conference room, closing the door right on Gus. "Have you heard from Spencer?"

She shook her head, getting even more worried as she heard the concern in his voice. It reminded her of how he sounded right before he was about to tell the family that their son or daughter or spouse was…she stopped that train of thought and looked back up into Lassiter's blue eyes. "Why?"

Carlton lowered his voice even more and mumbled, "We just found his motorcycle on the highway."

She was out the door before he could see her reaction to the news. "Gus, we just found Shawn's motorcycle. Come with me. Leave your car here." Gus obediently followed her out to her police cruiser and she hopped in the driver's seat. Lassiter had followed them out and he hopped in shotgun. Gus almost protested but then he saw the look on the two detectives' faces and decided to go with it. He hopped in the back.

The ride there seemed to take forever. Gus told them about the car that had run him off of the road and how Shawn was supposed to meet him. Lassiter came to the same conclusion Shawn had: the guy must have been looking for Spencer. But that got them no closer to figuring out where Shawn was or even what had happened. Had he been kidnapped? There was really no way to be sure, (especially not with Shawn) unless there was a ransom demand. Gus hadn't even had a clear view of the guy who had run him off the road so they didn't even have a suspect to track down.

They finally reached the…they weren't quite sure what to call it. Crime scene? Anyway they reached where Shawn's motorcycle had run off of the road and Gus stifled a gasp. Shawn's helmet lay a few feet away, like it had been taken off and thrown aside. There was some blood on the pavement, and skid marks leading from one side of the highway to where the motorcycle was lying on its side but other than that there wasn't much evidence.

Lassiter was barking orders. "I want forensics in here now! Get me anything you can about what happened to Spencer. If someone took him from the scene I want to know who he was and everything about him. Who are his friends? Who's his family? Heck, I want to know what his favorite kind of ice cream is! Let's get moving people!"

Juliet was standing still, staring at the crash. Shawn had to be alright. Oh she wished he would have given up his stupid motorcycle a little earlier. Suddenly something caught her eye. Lying next to the motorcycle was a small velvet box. Something made her walk over and pick it up. She opened it slowly, and gasped when she saw what it was. She pulled the beautiful diamond ring out and slipped it onto her necklace chain. She looked down at it and a tear trickled down her cheek. "We will find you Shawn," she whispered. "I promise."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey everybody! Merry almost Christmas! I got off school today so I'm super happy! We had our school Christmas party which was mystery themed! So much fun! Went into Juliet O'Hara mode interviewing my suspects and finding clues! Loved it! Plus I'm going bridesmaid dress shopping tomorrow for my cousin's wedding! We're doing the Messiah at our church this weekend which is going to take up all of my already limited spare time, so I decided to update now! Hope you like! REVIEW! I love reading them! Working on replying to them all! **

**PS: Has everyone seen the fall finale? If you haven't I won't say anything exactly I will just fangirl scream for you all. :D *EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE* Ok I'm done. Read on. lol**

Chapter 3

The ride back to the station was quiet. Lassiter drove this time, making sure to keep his face stoic. However, his eyes kept darting to his partner in the passenger seat who was fingering the ring on her necklace and shaking with silent sobs. Gus sat in the back, staring strait ahead at the back of Juliet's headrest.

Once they reached the station, Lassiter hopped out silently and went inside, leaving Gus and Juliet in the car. They stayed quiet for a few moments and then Juliet finally broke the silence.

"Gus…are you allowed to tell me what this is about?" She held up the ring for him to see.

Gus shook his head. "I was sworn to secrecy…but I guess in the current situation coming out of the 'vault of secrets' won't kill me, right?" Juliet agreed. "Well," Gus started, "he had someone who was going to buy his motorcycle on Wednesday. That's why he's been riding the darn thing everywhere whenever he has a chance. It's his last few days with his baby. Anyway then he was going to go to the car dealership and buy the used station wagon that the guy had been holding for him. He was planning on surprising you Friday night by picking you up in the new car and taking you to a movie. Some chick flick that just came out. At the end he was going to make some big presentation to everyone in the theater – you know how he is, if something is a big deal to him, it must be to everyone else – and…" Gus looked like he wasn't sure whether or not to tell her, but the fear he could see in her eyes…the fear that she wouldn't see Shawn again…made him open up to her. "He was going to propose."

She gasped and the tears that had not yet been shed began to trickle down her cheeks and drip off of her nose. Of course she had expected as much once she had seen the ring, but so soon? He was going to propose on Friday! This Friday!

The tears became full out sobs and Gus hopped out of the back of the car. He opened the passenger seat door and steadily lifted Juliet out, hugging her close to him once she was on her feet. He was glad to do it. Somehow it was easier for him to cope if he was helping someone else cope. He slowly rubbed her back, making soothing noises and rubbing his hand across her back.

"He'll be ok Juliet. He'll be ok. You know Shawn, he'll get out just fine. He'll probably talk their ears off and they'll pay us to take him back."

She smiled up at him through the tears. "Like _The Ransom of Red Chief_," she whispered.

He smiled back. "Like _The Ransom of Red Chief_," he agreed. "Do you want to go home?" he asked her after a few more quiet minutes.

She shook her head. "I want to catch the jerk who kidnapped Shawn," she whispered.

Gus nodded. "I figured you'd say that. Come on, let's go inside."

X X X X X X X X X X X X X

The first thing Shawn was aware of was the headache. It was so bad it made him want to throw up. He tried to get into a more comfortable position, and quickly discovered that this was in fact not his bed. Actually it was the furthest thing from it. He was lying on a tile floor in what looked like a bathroom, although he couldn't really tell in the dim light. He tried to sit up, but had to stifle a cry as his leg throbbed. He could feel a thumping in his head as he sat back against the wall, trying to get his bearings. What on earth had happened?

He remembered the SUV chasing him down and then…he must have crashed his motorcycle. Thank God his dad made him wear that stupid helmet. He assessed his injuries again, this time a little more thoroughly. Headache? Check. Probably from the initial impact between his head and the pavement. Bloody nose? Check. Also probably from when he hit his head. His body felt ok for now so he proceeded down to his leg. He felt it a little in the dark and immediately pulled his hand back. He had broken enough bones in his lifetime to know what was wrong. Broken leg? Check. His guess was that his bike had flipped over on him when he went down and crushed his leg underneath.

It suddenly occurred to him that his hands were not bound. Not that he was going to try anything…I mean he couldn't even walk, much less run away, but it just seemed…strange that whoever had kidnapped him wouldn't tie him up. He looked around his makeshift holding cell a little more, and was delighted to find a stack of mail up on the bathroom counter. He dragged himself over to it and flipped through, picking up quite a bit of information. He had just put the mail back in its place and dragged himself over to where he had been sitting before when he heard footsteps and the door burst open, letting an annoying amount of light into the room.

Shawn squinted against it until his eyes adjusted, giving him his first look at the kidnapper. He couldn't have been more than twenty-five years old, with dark hair and glasses. He was relatively thin and was wearing a button-down shirt and dress pants.

"Not exactly the kind of clothes you wear to kidnap someone," Shawn stated. The guy started when he heard Shawn speak and quickly pulled a gun from some unknown location. "Woah, woah, woah…no need to get freaked out here." Shawn raised his hands into the air. "I'm just trying to help. Maybe a dark sweatshirt and pants, complete with a ski mask would have been better attire."

"I didn't know you were awake," the kid said, and Shawn didn't fail to pick up on the tremor in his voice.

"I just woke up," Shawn told him. "Although I think…" he raised his hand to his head in his usual "psychic" pose, "I think you just did too."

The guy looked a little taken aback. "Yeah, I did. They said you were psychic but I didn't really think you were."

Shawn's hand stayed to his head, although he made sure not to touch it. It hurt too much. "Please James, don't doubt my abilities." The by this time James' mouth was hanging open.

"How did you know my name?"

"Please Jamie, don't interrupt." Shawn held up his hand and James fell silent. "Oh!" Shawn cried. "I'm seeing something else! Mail, yes, there's mail in the mailbox! Oh but it's bad! It's bad mail! Bills! All I see are bills!" He opened his eyes and pointed up at James. "You're in debt," he stated quietly.

James nodded. "I just graduated from college a few months ago. My parents made me move out. Between my student loan and the apartment and the car…" he trailed off. "I'm sorry Mr. Spencer, you seem like a really nice guy and it's really nothing personal, I just needed the money."

Shawn got a little frantic. "All right, yeah, I get that James but you don't have to do this! I'm sure I could find a way to get you the money…"

"No Mr. Spencer, I'm in too deep. I already made a deal, and these guys aren't the kind of people you go back on." James raised the gun back up again and leveled it at Shawn.

Shawn was talking as fast as he could. "But see, that's the thing, the spirits are unclear as to who is paying you to –."

"I really am sorry Mr. Spencer," James whispered and pistol-whipped Shawn out cold.

X X X X X X X X X X X X X

Lassiter came out of the men's room as strait-faced as ever. He cursed the emotions that had caused him to retreat. And it definitely wasn't Spencer he felt badly for. Oh no, Spencer wasn't worth that. It was O'Hara. Her breakdown in the car had him extremely worried. She didn't need this. Her job was hard enough already without problems like a missing boyfriend. He swore that if Spencer was joking around…if this was his twisted idea of some kind of a joke…Lassie fingered his gun. He was definitely going to shoot that kid.

"Lassiter!" Henry's voice echoed across the station. Henry was a hard ma to read in Carlton's opinion. He wasn't sure if what he was seeing was anger at Shawn, worry about Shawn, or anger at the guy that may or may not have taken him. (Lassiter still wasn't entirely sure that Shawn wasn't just being a pain in the butt.) He didn't really have time to made a decision though because Henry had pounced on him, asking him multiple questions in rapid fire about the…crime scene...

"Henry!" Lassiter silenced him. "We couldn't find anything," he said a little more gently. "We're getting everything checked for fingerprints but other than that there was nothing."

Lassiter was pretty sure that Henry would have given him a lengthy lecture on how he just hadn't been looking hard enough if McNab hadn't run up at that moment. He looked shaken as he approached the two men rather nervously. "Excuse me sir, I'm on my way to go tell the chief, but we think we may have some information about Shawn."

**Duh Duh Duh! Cliffy. Sorry. I'm almost done with the next chapter though and since I'm off of school...I'll try to update soon! Hope you have a great holiday season! Don't be a myopic chihuahua! Review Please! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**Merry Christmas Eve Eve Everybody! What's everybody doing for Christmas? (Or whatever holiday you celebrate this time of year) I just arrived at my Grandma's house after two days of driving and now I'm posting this just for you guys! I'm gonna be hanging out with my cousins for the next week and a half so I can't promise that you'll get an update next week, but I'll do my best! :) Enjoy! And let the whumping go on! Poor Shawn...**

Chapter 4

Shawn didn't wake up again until the SUV screeched to a halt, which he found extremely unfortunate for two reasons. One, he had _no idea _where he was now – he hadn't been awake to listen or look for any landmarks – and two, he didn't have time to prepare his body for the sudden stop. In fact, by the time he was completely conscious his body had already slid forward and he had automatically braced his legs on the edge of the seat, forgetting about the injured one. Pain shot up his broken leg and jerked him completely conscious.

The SUV door opened and Shawn realized that his head was still pounding, now worse than before (no thanks to the cold cocking he had gotten).

Strong arms, much stronger than James could be capable of, reached in and dragged him out of the car. Only then did he realize that his hands were now tied behind his back…right about when they let him fall and he realized he couldn't catch himself.

He face planted into the gravel and let out a little moan.

"Welcome." A voice he would soon come to dread spoke.

"Thanks," he mumbled. "But I'd get a new bell man. This one's not so gentle with the luggage."

The man chuckled. "I heard you were a bit of a smart alec. We'll see if we can fix that."

"I doubt it," Shawn said a little more weakly than he would have liked. "My dad's been trying for thirty years."

"Well, I'm sure we are much more…persuasive let's say," the man grinned evilly. "Max, take him inside," he told the big man next to him.

"Got it Boss," Max nodded. He hauled Shawn back up to his feet again and was about to walk toward the building when James interrupted. Shawn hadn't even seen him there.

"So am I gonna get my money or what? I did everything you asked. I was really careful with him and I brought him to you right on time."

'Boss' turned and glared at James. "I told you I'd get you your money." James winced a little at his tone but stayed put none the less. Shawn had to admire his courage.

"It's just that I have some bills I need to mail by tomorrow at the latest and I could really use that money now," James explained.

Boss shared a look with Max and then reached into his breast pocket and pulled a wad of cash out of his pocket. He handed it to James who counted it quickly and nodded. Boss glared and hissed, "Now scram kid."

James didn't argue. He turned and suddenly everything happened at once. Max dropped Shawn and grabbed a gun out of his back pocket. Shawn tried to scream, tried to yell for James to duck but he fell onto his broken leg (again), effectively knocking the wind out of him. Max calmly discharged the gun, sending three shots into James' back.

Shawn lay there trying to catch his breath, a guttural scream trying to escape with every pant. Honestly, Shawn had never seen anyone get killed before. He had gotten really close when he was shot and kidnapped, but he had really thought that he was the one who was going to die. He heard the gunshot but his eyes had been closed, and he had never even seen the dead body. The other man had knocked him out as soon as he shot his partner. And Shawn had seen plenty of dead bodies, but this…this completely pointless murder…he knew he was going into shock and he struggled to calm himself down, to take his eyes off James' still, lifeless body.

Boss walked over to the body and calmly removed the wad of cash from James' hand. He turned to look at Shawn. "Collateral damage," he shrugged. "The kid knew too much. He would have cracked and told eventually and I couldn't have that happen now, could I?"

He eyed Max as Max put his gun away. "Now get the kid inside and take care of this." He motioned to the body. "And get it done quickly Max."

Max nodded and hauled Shawn up (for the second time). He put his hand over a struggling Shawn's mouth and dragged him into the dark building.

X X X X X X X X X X

"Excuse me sir, I'm on my way to go tell the chief, but we think we may have some information about Shawn."

McNab never made it to the chief's office. Chief Vic heard enough of a commotion between Henry and Lassiter to bring her out into the hallway.

"What is going on?" she demanded and everyone fell silent. "McNab?" she questioned.

"So our tech guy, you know, the one that we always forget about, he told me that he's been working on some site…uh sort of a 'bad guy yellow pages' if you will. It's all in code but he finally managed to break it today…and, well, I think you should come look at one of the adds." The poor officer was nearly trampled by Henry as he pushed his way past everyone down to the basement.

"So, I was cracking these adds and I found this one. It's already been answered but I started it anyway. You can only see the beginning right now, it's done with a code I'm not used to, but I should be able to have it done in a few days. The three stopped to read the ad.

_Wanted: The psychic detective _#^-97 6#^ *85 &2$4: !(&* 25 9 7##4 3#49*9#: 9*5^5&*54 $1^*95& !1" ^5138 144 $(2=9&85^ 1* 2=13-251^41#=.3#!: &*1*(& #6 144: 1&_5^54: _

"That's all I have done so far. But I called you down as soon as I saw the 'psychic detective' part. I heard that Shawn was missing and that they found his motorcycle."

"And you said the add has been answered?" Henry asked.

"Yes sir, um, that's the hard part though. The only reason I know that is because it's off the main page in the answered ads. I have no idea who answered it or when."

The chief was able to prevent Henry from jumping the tech by saying, "Thank you. Keep working on that code. We'll see what we come up with. How long do you think it will take?"

The guy shrugged. "I'll work my hardest but it will still take at the least a couple days. At the most three weeks. It took me a little under a week just to crack what I have now.

"I'll get some tech guys from other stations to come and help," the chief told him. "Maybe we can make this go a little faster." The guy nodded.

"That would be great. Thanks chief."

When Henry, Lassiter, and the chief went back upstairs they told Gus and Juliet what had been found.

"We might have to wait a little while for a lead," Lassiter said, "but at least we _have _one. Everyone agreed that that was better than nothing.

X X X X X X X X X X

The first thing that struck Shawn (thankfully not literally this time) when they entered the cell was how dark it was. He had never liked the dark. He wasn't scared of it or anything, it was just a bit unnerving to not know what was coming. Plus his "gift" depended on him being able to see. Well, part of it did anyway. He knew there was a pipe in the room because he could hear the dripping of water down onto the concrete. He knew the room must be directly below the building's kitchen because he could vaguely smell food. Max didn't bother uniting him before roughly shoving him into the small room. This time at least Shawn was able to catch himself on his shoulder instead of on his face.

"We'll be back for you soon," Max grunted. "But for us, it's dinnertime."

Max slashed his bonds and once again, Shawn was left alone. He felt like crying. He really _really really_ wanted to cry. Of course he didn't. That wasn't the Spencer way. But dang his leg hurt. A lot. Like crazy. And he was pretty sure that his shoulder was going to have a pretty big bruise on it. Oh, and to add to the fun his head was pounding so loudly in his eardrums that he could hardly hear anything else. He realized that he was hungry. And thirsty. And he had to pee. Funny how you seem to forget about those necessities when there's something as exciting as a kidnapping going on. Well, he figured he'd take care of the easiest first and took care of his business in the tiny bathroom in the corner. There was no sink but at least they had given him a toilet. It was better than nothing. Then he tried to take care of the food and water parts. He remembered the pipe but the drip was too slow to do him any good.

"Dang," he mumbled through his dry throat. He could smell the food that Boss and Max were eating upstairs. He wondered if that meant the door was unguarded. He limped over and listened at the door. He didn't hear anything, but when he tried the door it didn't budge. Not even a little bit. All the movement was making his leg kill, but when he was still his headache was overpowering. Eventually his leg won and he slid back down the wall onto the ground.

He started to doze off for a while, thankful for the relief it gave him. But soon the door was thrown open and Max and Boss entered once again. Shawn jolted awake, feeling completely unable to protect himself.

"So 'psychic'," Boss put air quotes around the title, "how ya doin?"

"I've been better," Shawn shrugged, trying to ignore the pain. "Your dinner buffet was a little disappointing though."

Boss laughed, and then abruptly stopped and backhanded Shawn across the face.

"Do you think this is some sort of joke?" Boss screamed at him. "Do you think that your little friends are going to burst through that door at any moment and rescue you? Look at me kid." Shawn obeyed without thinking about it. "You are never leaving this building alive, do you understand?" Boss' tone was dark and menacing.

"Wow, not a very friendly staff," Shawn mumbled. "All I asked for was some room service." This time it earned him a punch in the gut.

"You stay here and think your little predicament through, you got it? I'll be back in the morning and maybe then we can talk like grown-ups." Boss wiped his hands on his pants and exited the room. Max followed his lead.

Shawn sat in the dark and suddenly the vivid image of James' body recoiling flashed before his eyes. He let out a tearless sob, then shook his head. He would be fine. They would find him soon.

**So...what did you think? Please! Let me know! Oh, PS: The code in there...it's really just supposed to be a computer code that's really hard to crack, but I made an actual pretty simple code out of it...so brownie points goes to anyone that can crack the code and Private Message me! And it doesn't matter when you read this...even if it's like three years from now...it's still fun to decode a coded message! :D Happy Holidays to everyone! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello! It's me! (It is I if you want to be a grammar snob lol) So...my mom calls me the queen of excuses so here we go. I haven't posted till now because A. It was on holiday with my family (that sounded so cool and Brittish) and B. My computer got a virus and the security system that I used to get rid of it somehow locked me out of Microsoft Word, thereby eliminating my chances of finishing and posting this until now. Also, a note of warning: I am behind on my French class so I will be doing that all week and all of next weekend, so I can't guarentee a new chapter next week. Also, I DEFINITELY cannot guarentee a chapter the weekend after that because that is EXAM WEEK. Yes, EXAM WEEK definitely deserves bold print. :p Ok, there you go. You have been warned. :) Enjoy me beating up on Shawn! **

Chapter 5

Sleep did nothing for Shawn's physical condition, as he sadly found out the next morning. Now, besides the leg and the head, his face had two bruises, one from the pistol-whipping and one from the slap he had received. Add to that the punch in the gut and the lack of food and water and he definitely wasn't felling very comfortable.

He woke up to a loud banging on the door of his cell. "You awake 'psychic'?" Max yelled.

Shawn groaned in response.

"Good." Max entered the room and Shawn gulped. Max wasn't looking any more friendly today. "Here's your first lesson of the day. Boss doesn't like it when you talk back to him. So here's how we're gonna start out our morning." He grabbed Shawn around the collar of his shirt and lifted him off the ground, slamming him into the wall. His big arm went into Shawn's chest and knocked the wind out of him. He held Shawn up with his one hand and punched him in the face with the other. He let go as his fist struck and Shawn hit the floor hard. He let out a little groan, but didn't even have time to catch his breath before Max kicked him again in the stomach. He curled up into the fetal position, hoping to protect himself long enough to catch his breath, but Max dragged him up by his collar again and hit him in the face.

The cycle continued for what felt like hours. Shawn thought it would never end but finally he heard Boss call, "Enough." He hadn't even realized that Boss had entered the room and at that point he didn't even really care. He just lay on the floor, trying not to concentrate on the warm liquid he could feel trickling down his face. There was a fuzzy haze around his vision, and he tried to concentrate on that, hoping to pass out. He knew it wouldn't be much better in the long run, but it sure would be better now.

Unfortunately that thought was banished as Max held smelling salts under his nose. He jerked awake and groaned again as his muscles protested.

"Now, now Spencer, we're not quite done with you. Don't black out on us just yet," Boss' voice held a tone of satisfaction that frankly scared the crap out of Shawn. He noticed the chair that had suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. Boss must have dragged it in when he made his ninja-like entrance. Max jerked him up again and dumped him in the chair, tying his arms behind the chair back and his legs to the chair legs. He gasped a little in pain as his broken leg was jerked.

"So, now that we have your attention and we know you won't be back-talking us, let's talk." Boss grinned evilly and kneeled down to look Shawn in the eyes. "You want to know why you're here I'm sure. Well, I'd love to tell you that we've got some big grudge that we've been holding over some case you probably don't even remember performing, but that's not it. We needed a guinea pig for a new kind of…ah…let's call it question asking that we've been working on. I asked a couple of my buddies who they would like to see out of the way, and your name always popped up. That's the bad thing about those few minutes of fame," he held a recent newspaper up with Shawn's picture on the cover, "it's always gonna make you a big target." He rolled up the newspaper and hit Shawn in his already bleeding face with it.

Shawn gasped and sucked up blood, coughing and sputtering. He turned his head and spit at Boss. "Glad you considered me worthy," he gasped out. Max stepped toward him, but Boss held out his hand.

"Easy Max. We're just talking." He turned back to Shawn. "As I was saying, you're going to be our prototype for our new kind of interrogation. Let me give you the basic gist. You give us some information and we kill you quickly."

Shawn snorted. "Sounds like a great deal." This time Boss completely ignored him.

"You don't give us information and we make you _wish_ you were dead."

"So what information do you want? I don't know if you would have guessed, but I'm not the kind of guy people tell privileged information to. That would be the job of the police detectives. We can give them a call if you want them to come down here," Shawn gasped out. Max coughed and Boss turned and nodded.

"You'll find out what we want soon enough. I don't think you're ready to talk yet. Max, go ahead." Shawn closed his eyes and tried to calm down. The sane part of him wanted to scream for Boss to come back, to say that he would cooperate, that he would tell them whatever they needed to know. But his ego wouldn't let him give in to Boss. His ego was what made him steady his breathing and prepare for the beating he knew was coming.

This time however, he didn't have a way to protect himself as he was ruthlessly pummeled again and again. He knew he was screaming but he couldn't stop himself. The pain just wouldn't let up.

Finally Max delivered one last blow and stopped. He untied Shawn and pulled the chair out from under him. Shawn hit the cement floor hard. He saw Max leave through the haze and then everything went black.

X X X X X X X X X X

Henry Spencer sighed. It had been two days since Shawn went missing, and he was full of nervous energy. The chief had officially kicked him out of the station, telling him that he needed _sleep, _and _rest, _and other such ridiculous things. How was he supposed to sleep when his son was out there in the hands of some _psychopath_? He sighed again and set down the phone in his hand. He had been sitting on the couch, watching the news and picking up and putting down the phone for the past hour and a half. He had watched every commercial ever made for "old-folks medication" and had heard the same news stories twice. And still he hadn't brought himself to dial the phone.

He knew he needed to. He really didn't want to put it off any longer. But he had always had trouble dialing her number. It wasn't just because it was their only son that was missing and he felt slightly responsible. I mean, he had taken the job at the station to keep Shawn _out _of trouble. But ever since she left he had had trouble dialing her number.

Back in the beginning, when they were young and stupidly in love, he had dialed every number like it was the best thing he had ever had to do. But then he started to dread dialing. When she went off after an argument and he had to be the one to fix things. Eventually he had started to have Shawn talk to her. Shawn was the only thing that would bring her home. And then Shawn left. Henry couldn't blame him. He had obviously grown tired of falling asleep to all the yelling downstairs. But she had left with Shawn. That was what had hurt him the most. They both left him, both at the same time, and he had fallen into a bit of a depression. Those were the days when he would sit by the phone, trying to dial those numbers, trying to call to say he was sorry, trying to bring her back. But he could never make his fingers move. He kind of felt that way now.

But now it was different. He and Maddie were friends again. And it was a strange game that they would play. Almost like they were kids again. She would pop into town, unannounced, and he would somehow find out and invite her over for dinner. Sometimes she would say she was too busy, but sometimes she would come. He would cook, penance for the days when they would both come home late and he would expect her to cook for him. Sometimes they would go out, but sometimes they would just sit and talk, mostly about Shawn and how he had grown up to be such a handsome and mature young man. At least that's what Maddie would say. He knew she adored their son. She called him the one thing they did right.

And now he had to be the one to call her, the one to tell her that her baby boy was missing and possibly in grave danger. _Possibly dead, _his brain reminded him, but he shrugged it off. Finally he put on a determined face and grabbed the phone, dialing each number quickly and deliberately.

"Hello, this is Madeline Spencer," her clear voice said. He felt a pang in his heart, though he would never admit that to anyone. She still called herself by his last name.

"Maddie, this is Henry. We need to talk."

X X X X X X X X X X

Shawn was awake. He really wished he wasn't but there was no stopping it now. There was no way to tell what time of the day it was, or even if a whole day had passed, since there were no windows in the room. The pipe was still dripping, but other than that the room was silent. He tried to sit up, but quickly decided that that was definitely not his best idea. His best idea had definitely been the wire that brought hot dogs from the kitchen to the office. Just look how much Jules had loved it.

Jules. Even through the pain, her name made him smile to himself. He knew she was looking for him. He knew she would stop at nothing to find him. And he had to hold out, for her and Gus and his mom and dad, and even for Lassie. Even if it meant dying a little every day, he promised himself that they would find him alive.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. The ring. The ring that he had been putting a couple dollars from each paycheck away for almost since the day he had kissed her in Canada. It was gone. He wondered if they had taken it. That idea angered and hurt him more than the earlier beating had.

His ADD trail full-circled back to his current condition – beaten, bloody, and lying motionless on a concrete floor. Did he mention hungry and thirsty? He wondered if he had officially gotten dehydrated yet. He knew that one of the first signs was a headache, but he couldn't really tell if the headache was from all the hits to his head, or dehydration. And he was pretty sure it didn't matter. Not at this point anyway.

Suddenly he heard a sound that made his heart stop. The door was being opened. He sighed and prepared himself for another beating. Max pushed the door open with a sickening smile on his face. He was dragging the chair from before with him. Shawn tried not to look at the blood on it.

"Good morning 'psychic'. Boss gave me a little extra quality time with you today. So let's get started." Max pulled a knife out of his pocket and grinned. He dragged Shawn up and secured Shawn's arms behind the chair. He teased Shawn's neck with the knife, making the fake psychic shudder as it grazed the hairs, never actually coming in contact with his neck.

That was when Shawn panicked and made his first stupid mistake. Max was just so close and Shawn just couldn't stop himself. He threw his uninjured leg out and kicked Max right in the stomach.

He heard Max give a satisfying grunt and then his brain caught up with his body and he realized what he had done. It was definitely never a good idea to anger the big crazy guy with the knife who could easily beat the crap out of you. Max grabbed more ties and tied Shawn's legs down, the move that he had obviously forgotten to make. Then he grabbed the knife again. This time there was no gleeful glint in his eyes. Just pure hate.

In one smooth motion, Max brought the knife blade down, slicing the front of Shawn's shirt open. Shawn looked down at the ripped plaid.

"Dude, seriously? That's what the buttons are for!" Shawn couldn't help it. He was panicking. In reply, Max slashed out with the knife on the skin of Shawn's chest. The cut was quick, and that seemed to calm Max down a little. The next cut that he made was slower, deeper, and much more methodical. Also, _way_ more painful. Shawn squeezed his eyes shut and bit his lip, trying not to cry out as Max slashed an intricate pattern onto his skin. He knew he shouldn't focus on it. He had to think about something else. Anything else. He tried to think about the wall in the police station with the SBPD's most wanted. He tried to remember every detail of the posters, re-creating them in his mind.

Finally Max finished. He started to put his now blood-covered knife away. "I'd wash that if I were you," Shawn choked out through a dry throat. "You have no idea where I've been." Max lunged at Shawn and Shawn let out a yelp and instinctively cowered. Max stepped back and laughed, turning to go. "Seriously, I'd watch it if I were you. You know, my own best friend wouldn't even share a needle with me. Of course, he is afraid of that kind of a thing naturally, so…" Shawn wasn't really sure what he was doing. He knew talking wasn't a very good idea right now, but at least it was making his heart stop slamming into the inside wall of his chest.

Max stepped toward him again and this time Shawn made himself not flinch. He kept rambling even as Max stepped closer. Max grabbed a fist-full of Shawn's hair and suddenly yanked Shawn's head downward, forcing his eyes onto his bloody chest. Shawn's eyes snapped closed immediately, but the image burned in his brain and re-played behind his eyelids. Curse his stupid photographic memory.

Max yanked Shawn's head back up, forcing Shawn to look into his dark and glinting eyes. "You see that 'psychic'? That's what I can do to you. That's just the beginning of the things I will do to you. Boss has decided there will be no talking today. You're not broken enough yet. But don't worry, you'll get to talk to him soon. I'll see you tomorrow 'psychic'." He untied Shawn once again and dumped him on the floor. This time, Shawn couldn't keep in the cry that escaped as he fell. Max left, locking the door loudly enough to let Shawn know that he wouldn't be getting out anytime soon. Shawn closed his eyes, trying to erase the image of his blood...his blood everywhere. He couldn't stop replaying the image in his mind. He let out another scream, hitting his head with his hand. And then his gag reflex (or as he liked to call it his _Gus _reflex) kicked in and he couldn't catch himself. He threw up. Well, more like dry-heaved several times onto the concrete floor.

_Hang on Shawn, _he thought to himself. _Help is on the way. Just keep hanging on. _And then he passed into blessed darkness once again.

**Ok, so I'm not sure how you all feel about this but I'm actually a fan of Henry and Maddie together. I know...I know...I'm a hopeless romantic...but Henry still loves her, you can tell. I probably won't get them back together in this story...I think it would take a LOT longer, but I'll at least have hints of Henry/Maddie in here. Sorry there was no Lassie, Gus, or Jules...I kinda like reading and writing Shawn whump better. Well, I'll "see" you whenever I "see" you next! :D Happy New Year!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello dear readers! I'm back after a week of sickness and exams! (Not a good combination) You've all been awesome by the way! Thank you so much for all the reviews! Keep them coming! (My goal is 10 per chapter, and that's what happened last chapter so keep it up!) :D Ahh well...don't let me keep you any longer. Enjoy the story! **

Chapter 6

Henry Spencer was not a naturally nervous man. There was very little that scared him out of his wits. He wasn't afraid of the dark, or of hights. Heck, he wasn't even afraid of having a gun pointed at him. But loosing his son was definitely on the list, whether he would be one to admit it out loud or not. Sure he had wanted his son to be a cop, but being a cop required _maturity _and _training _and it also had the extra advantage of being able to carry a gun at all times. But of course Shawn _would _find the one way to obey and disobey at the same time. He worked with the cops, got paid by the cops, and practically lived in the police station, but somehow he had missed the maturity, the training, and the gun.

Henry stood up and paced across the room, looking up at the flight schedule once again. Her flight still had the green "on time" next to it. It would be here any minute now. He moved to go back to his bench, but turned as another person waiting on some relative occupied it. He turned and stared at the luggage carousel, just standing and watching the bags go around and around. Curse the terrorist punk that had made the flight pick-up move from the terminal to the baggage claim. At least in the terminal there was some decent coffee.

He finally found an empty bench and allowed himself to doze a little. He hadn't gotten much sleep lately. He jerked awake about fifteen minutes later, police reflex starting up as he reached for a non-existent holster.

"Henry." And then she was there, scolding him in that mothering voice that he knew so well. "No need to pull a gun on me." A hint of a smile played on her lips. Gosh, sometimes she looked so much like Shawn. Or Shawn looked like her, he supposed. He stood and allowed himself to smile for the first time in…well…a long time.

"Hey Maddie. How was your flight?"

She shrugged. "It was a flight. Nothing special."

He nodded awkwardly. "I'm glad you came." He was. They had had quite a discussion (Henry wouldn't quite call it an argument) on whether or not she should come. Henry had told her that there wasn't much she could do, but he hadn't really protested very much when she insisted on flying in immediately.

He grabbed her suitcase from her and she looked startled. "Why thank you Henry. Would you mind taking me over to my hotel? It would save me the cab money."

He suddenly became very distracted by something on the floor, and he left hand came up to rub the back of his neck. "Well…I was thinking…maybe…well, we don't know how long it will be…umm…I don't want you to spend too much money on the room…and I…well…there's a guest room at the house that I uh, would be glad if you would stay in." He finally met her eyeline and her eyes sparkled.

"Henry, did you just invite me to stay with you in the house?" she asked teasingly. Yep. Definitely where Shawn got it.

He nodded and took a deep breath.

She smiled. "Alright. You drive."

X X X X X X X X X X

Shawn was starting to dread waking up. It seemed like every time he woke up, it was only for a few agonizing minutes until he blacked out again. This time however, he seemed to be thinking clearly. Well, clearly enough that he knew he hated waking up. As he became aware of his surroundings he fond himself tied to a chair with Max and Boss staring at him intently.

He blinked hard and groaned. "You know," he said, "a watched psychic never talks." The attitude in the comment was lost as it came through cracked and quiet.

Boss shook his head. "Amazing. Still not broken. I figured we'd talk now though. I'd like to find the line between breaking your spirit and snapping your brain." Shawn felt a chill run down his spine. "Max did quite a number on you the other day," Boss continued. "We thought we would give you a break today."

"Oh, how kind of you," Shawn choked out.

"So, let's talk about you, shall we?" Boss grinned. "When did you first know you were psychic?"

"I figured it out in high school," Shawn answered, a little surprised at the simplicity of the question. "My dad didn't accept that I had the gift right away so I took off. I came back later and now I'm working for the SBPD. Like I said before, we can give them a call if you need any more information. I'm sure they'd be glad to schedule an appointment with you" – Then came the slap he had been expecting. Even still it jarred him in a way it wouldn't have a few days ago.

"You still think this is some kind of a joke?" Boss yelled down at him. Shawn flinched. He really had to stop ticking this guy off. Boss kicked him. The guy's boot came in contact with his broken leg and he let out an involuntary yelp of pain. Boss laughed and kicked him in the same spot again. Shawn heard the sickening sound of snapping bone as his leg bent in an inhuman way. Shawn didn't look down but he was pretty sure the bone was poking through the flesh on his leg. Boss grinned and his eyes were pure evil. "Wow, that was oddly satisfying. I usually let Max here do my dirty work, but that…that felt good." He suddenly lashed out and hit Shawn in the ribcage with his fist, taking Shawn's breath away. The pseudo-psychic gasped for air. "You think this is funny now kid?"

Shawn looked up at the cold hard face of his kidnapper. There were tears in his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. "Almost as good as going to a stand-up show," he whispered.

Boss shook his head. "I'm getting tired of this. We need to break him now Max. Now!"

Max stepped forward and Shawn panicked. "No! No please! Oh gosh please no!" He hated himself for cowering like a scared animal…the alligator, his totem animal, never cowered, but gosh he couldn't take another beating. Not today.

Boss smiled. "That's more like it." He held up his hand and Max grudgingly stepped back. "Now kid, let's talk about your friends. I believe there's a police detective you know quite well that one of my friends would like some information on." Shawn's heart picked up speed again. Oh gosh no. Not Jules. "He's the head detective at the police station you work at. I believe his name is…Lassiter?"

Shawn nodded and exhaled which did nothing but cause a coughing fit. He choked out, "Lassie."

"Good. Glad to hear you know him. So what we want to know is, does he have any friends? Any family? Anyone close to him?" Shawn's mind immediately jumped to Marlowe, but he knew he couldn't mention her. Even in his current state he wouldn't do that to Lassiter. So he shook his head.

"He's a bit estranged from his family. I know he's got one but I don't know where any of them live." That wasn't a lie. Shawn knew Lassie had at least one sister and a mom and maybe some other family, but he wasn't willing to give this guy too many details.

Boss nodded. "Any friends?"

Shawn laughed bitterly. "Well, definitely not me, if that's what you're wondering. He's threatened to shoot me himself a few times." Boss nodded again, hanging on every word.

"See now kid, that wasn't so hard, was it? But if I find out there's anything you're not telling me…" Again Marlowe flashed into his mind but he shook his head.

"That's all I know, I swear." Boss untied him and he crumpled painfully onto his broken leg.

"Have the day off kid. You earned it."

Shawn didn't reply. He just groaned as a water bottle flew out of nowhere and hit him in the head, bouncing back into his lap. He heard Max chuckle, but he was much too preoccupied with getting the cap open. He tipped the bottle back and let the lukewarm liquid gush down his throat and face. Even as he was doing it he knew somewhere in the back of his mind that it was a bad idea to drink too much at one time, but he didn't care. He just kept drinking until he had emptied half of the bottle. The only thing that stopped him from downing the whole thing was the sickening feeling in his stomach. He capped the bottle before the rest of the water could spill and threw up everything he had just drunk onto the concrete. Crap.

After his system had expelled everything he sat back against the wall and sipped a little water. Even that much made him want to throw up again, but he forced himself to hold it down. He tried not to think about the pain coursing through his body or about the pictures of James' limp form and his own bloody chest that had not left his thoughts for the last few days. He tried not to think about what Boss had said about snapping his brain either. But how else would you explain the mental breakdown he had just had? He was loosing it. Much more of this and he was going to loose it completely.

He couldn't think about it. He tried to think about something funny. Gus running into the screen door that one time. That was funny. He laughed. That was a bad idea. He finally decided to think about nothing. And that's what he did for the next few hours. He sat on the floor of a cell, a half empty water bottle in his hands, a puddle of water beside him on the concrete and thought of nothing.

X X X X X X X X X X

Juliet wrote the last few words of the report and slapped it across her desk into the "done" pile. Carlton had been giving her his paperwork all day, which she normally wouldn't stand for. She was a full-fledged detective now, not his personal slave - AKA "junior detective," but today she had been glad for the busy-work. It gave her something to do besides sit around and worry about Shawn. She had seen the toll it was taking on Gus and Henry.

Henry came in every morning and worked like a madman, trying to scrape together some sort of lead on Shawn's whereabouts. Almost a week had passed and the computer encryption was still being worked on downstairs. The chief had finally banned Henry from going downstairs to see the code-breakers because he somehow always ended up yelling at them. At first Henry would stay and work right through his lunch break. But since she got into town Henry's ex-wife Maddie would call at about one o'clock for an update. Henry would leave and go home for lunch shortly after she called. He would come back at about two and get right back to work again.

Sometime at about lunchtime was usually when Gus would show up. Juliet knew that he had adopted the same coping method she had, throwing himself into his work at his other job, but he didn't have enough to do to fill up the whole day. So at about noon he would come to the station. He would get any updates and then just hang around, being a general pain-in-the-but and getting in everyone's way.

At five, Chief Vic would come out and demand that Henry and Gus go home and get some rest, telling them that it was just a matter of time before they got a lead and that there was nothing more the two of them could do.

Juliet sighed and picked up the next file to do. She…she supposed she wasn't much better than Henry and Gus. She would hang around the station for as long as she could, even after her work was done, hoping for some new information of any kind. Unlike with Henry and Gus, it was usually Carlton that would make her go home. He might not be the most touchy-feely guy, but he at least understood how she ticked. He knew that she needed the excuse to be in the station, so he had been giving more and more to her and doing less himself. For most, this would seem like an unfair deal, but Carlton liked work. He enjoyed following up on leads and the interrogation process, and he even (depending on the case) sometimes enjoyed doing the paperwork. But he had been handing more and more over to her since Shawn had gone missing.

She was thankful for Carlton. She really was. He was keeping her sane through this. She switched to the next file. But she, along with Henry and Gus, (and she suspected Carlton) just wanted a lead. So when someone emerged from downstairs where all the computer techs had been working and called for the chief, she raced out of her chair just as fast as Henry and Gus did to hear the news.

**Cliff Hanger...I'm getting better at them...ish... :) Aww...more Henry/Maddie cuteness. Maddie reminds me so much of Shawn. There's stuff he gets from his dad, but he gets the smart alek personality and the rebelious streak from his mom...definitely. Got some Jules/Lassie/Gus in there...but you gotta admit...the Shawn whump is soooo much more fun to read and write. :) Ok, now I gotta go decode my own code because I forgot what it stood for. Thankfully I typed out a key...I know myself very well. :) Have a good week everybody! **


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello my readers! :D Look at me bein all speedy like this! I whipped this out just for you guys! AND I got a 100% on my French midterm. :) Happy Tuesday the 17th! My mom and I watched the episode during dinner tonight and I always forget how creepy/depressing it is. The Shawn/Gus/Jules part is creepy and the Lassie part is so sad! Oh by the way, did anyone else ever notice that Camp Tikihama is actually the camp that Shawn makes up in "Bounty Hunters" for that guy to be their counselor from? And they sing the song he makes up all creepishly at the begining of Tue the 17th! I just figured that out today! Worst idea I ever had: I watched this one night while I was at home by myself. Stupid! Anyway, I have this chapter for you. It's a lot more intense just to warn you. We are nearing the halfway point! It'll probably be chapter 8 or 9. But don't worry, we're not done yet! Well, read, review, and...uh..._rejoice_ in the fact that I got it up! And enjoy too. It just didn't start with an _r _so I figured it didn't belong in the list. lol :)**

Chapter 7

For Gus, these last few days had been absolute torture. Life without Shawn wasn't really living, and he was starting to see that. There was one week when they were kids when Gus had gotten the flu and couldn't go to camp. Shawn had gone grudgingly because his dad had made him and Gus was stuck at home by himself. That was one of the most boring weeks of his life, and he made sure to tell Shawn not to leave again once his best friend got home. That was the first time Gus had realized that he really _wasn't _better off without Shawn, despite what his parents were always whispering.

Of course there were those years when Shawn left. Gus didn't blame his friend for leaving really. Or at least he didn't now. Shawn had never really liked staying in one place or doing one thing for long, and Gus usually just chalked it up to his ADD. But back then, when Shawn left three days after graduation, Gus was upset. He had always talked about going to college with Shawn. It had never dawned on him that Shawn wouldn't share the same dream. The feelings from the week during camp were forgotten. He felt like maybe he _was _better off without Shawn.

By the time Shawn came back, Gus had a steady job and things were looking up for him. But he really didn't realize how much he had missed the "good old days" until Shawn showed up in his office with his sparkling hazel eyes and a gigantic smile on his face and forced him to use his vacation days to be dragged off for some hair-brained adventure at the border of Mexico. His life was really boring without Shawn.

This week would have been much easier if Shawn had been here. He would have done his best to find whoever was missing, all the while cracking jokes and coming up with obscure eighties references and trying to make Juliet crack a smile. The station would have been much less tense. But it wasn't just any missing persons case. It was _Shawn _who was missing. No one was cracking jokes - Gus was pretty sure most of the officers didn't usually understand Shawn's eighties references, much less come up with their own - and Juliet hadn't smiled in days.

So when the tech came up calling for the chief, Gus was the first into her office, closely followed by Juliet, Mr. Spencer, and Lassiter.

"Well ma'am," the tech started, and it was evidence of the fact that they all cared about Shawn that the chief didn't correct him, "we've managed to break the encryption. Here's the message." He read, "'Wanted: The psychic detective working for the SBPD. Must be in good condition. Interested parties may reach add publisher at blackbeard at aol dot com. Status of add: Answered.'" He cleared his throat as everyone looked at him expectantly. "We checked out the e-mail address. Thankfully whoever it was who posted the add seemed to be very confident in the security of the website it was posted on because we hacked into his e-mail address without any problem. We found the reply to the add. The person who kidnapped Shawn. His name is James Montgomery.

Lassiter ran out to check up on the name and the tech continued. "The time and place of the drop-off were organized by phone, so unfortunately we don't have any more information there, but it's definitely something." There was a minute of quiet mumbling around the room until it was cut off by Lassiter yelling, "O'Hara! Get out here and take a look at this!"

Henry, Gus, and the chief all followed Juliet out to Lassiter's desk and looked over her shoulder at his computer. On it was the information on James Montgomery. He had just graduated from college, he had an apartment on the south side of Santa Barbara, and he owned a black SUV. But it was his picture that Lassiter and Juliet were staring intently at.

"That's our John Doe!" Juliet was the first to speak up.

"That's what I thought too," Lassiter nodded as Juliet raced to find the file on her desk.

"His body washed up under the pier three days ago. According to Woody the date of death was four days ago, and Shawn has been missing for five days." Juliet looked up from the file and shrugged. "It adds up."

Henry walked over to her and looked over her shoulder at the file. "Shot three times in the back," he read. Gus looked like he was going to be sick.

"Do you think…you think the people that have Shawn did that?"

Lassiter looked grim. "It's very possible Guster."

Juliet had handed the file on John Doe to Henry and was digging through the pile again. "Here!" she exclaimed triumphantly. "A black SUV turned up at a lot with no tags or plates four days ago!"

Henry, Lassiter, and Juliet all had the same thought at the same time.

"That lot wasn't anywhere near the water," Henry mused.

"Which means Montgomery probably didn't drive it there," Juliet nodded.

"Which means whoever has Shawn probably drove it there," Lassiter continued. His eyes lit up. "Which means there might be prints!"

"Good job detectives!" the chief looked proud. The four had already grabbed their jackets and were on their way out the door before she made it back to her office.

X X X X X X X X X X

The questioning was over and he was happy again. He laughed humorlessly to himself. He had a screwed idea of _happy_. Happy used to mean him and Gus and Jules hanging out at the Psych office after work having a Star Wars marathon. Now it meant a drink of water and no one branding his skin. The wound on his stomach was red and burning. A circle was etched in his flesh with the letters BB in the middle. He wondered if that was just a random cattle brand or if Boss had made it special with his initials. They had asked him something. He honestly couldn't remember. Their words got quiet after the pain started. But he knew that if he talked again they would kill him. They had told him so.

"Just tell us what we want to know and we'll end all of this," Boss' voice was smooth and convincing. "You won't even know what happened. It will all be over so fast." He really wanted to agree. The side of the scalding metal brand was burning his arms at that moment, putting little lines all over his bicep. He closed his eyes and tried not to imagine how many scars he would have _when _they rescued him. At least they could all be covered up. Ha. He had jinxed himself with that one.

Next they burned his hands. The whole brand had been pushed into the backs of his hands, leaving blood-red circles with the BB inside there as well. The put the little lines all over his palms, so that picking up the water bottle now was pure anguish.

And then they had removed his shirt. That alone was torture. They had just rolled up his sleeves to do his arms and he had really hoped that they weren't going to take the whole shirt off. No such luck. The cuts on his chest had started to heal in the night and when he woke up the next morning the fabric was healed into the scabs. The simple act of taking his shirt off had ripped opened all of his cut wounds again. He had almost passed out only to be brought back by Max and his stupid smelling salts.

Then there was one more question asked. Again, he didn't even remember what it had been, but part of him was starting to wish he had answered it. When he hadn't they had once again re-heated the brand and thrust it into his stomach, holding it there until tears streamed down his face and his voice was hoarse from screaming. And this time, when they left, they hadn't even let him out of the chair. He tried not to throw up as he thought of how bloody the chair was. How much of his blood was forever going to be on that chair.

He wiggled the wrong way and felt the blood once again trickling down his leg. Had he forgotten to mention that with all of his convulsing and flailing around the bone in his leg had finally broken through the skin? No? Well now you know. He couldn't even pick a point that hurt anymore. He couldn't count his injuries. And what's worse, he was pretty sure that Boss and Max's worst injuries wasn't physical. Boss told Max not to "snap his brain" about once every two minutes, and he was pretty sure that he was loosing his mind just by power of suggestion.

He had come out of a trance yesterday to find himself bashing his head on the wall. There hadn't been blood, which his mind automatically registered as a good thing, but he hadn't remembered doing it at all. It was like he had left his own body for a second, letting something else take it over.

He couldn't handle that. He couldn't loose his mind. That was all he had left. He wasn't going to let them take that away from him too. Nope. Nope. Nope. That wasn't going to happen.

He had recounted the most wanted lists on the wall about a million times. He had started trying to remember things from his childhood. Now just thinking about it he had to recount the wall at the station to keep himself from panicking. He had a fleeting thought, wondering if the names and faces would be different that when he left. He hadn't been gone that long though right? He wondered if Boss' picture was up on the wall. Maybe they knew Boss' name. Brian Branson? Beverly Bumcock? Brandy Brimmer? Bobby Brovski? Any one of those could be right. He sighed.

Yeah. He was loosing it.

X X X X X X X X X X

The car ride was silent and fast. Juliet had never seen Carlton drive so fast in her life, although Gus and Henry seemed to think it was better than when he had been given the Ferrari to drive. Either way, Lassiter stepped on it all the way over to the lot.

The SUV had been abandoned at an empty portion of the lot and there wasn't anyone around when they reached it. To make matters worse it was about sunset when they go there, so everything was a weird shade of creepy gray. Lassiter and Henry approached first, in full-on cop mode, followed by Juliet and Gus. Lassiter had gloves on, so as not to disturb any fingerprints or evidence. He reached for the door handle and pulled it open.

The front of the car had been cleaned out, with no trace that anyone had been there. The back however was a different story. A spot of blood tainted the leather on the seat, and a spatter traveled down to the floor where another spot of blood sat. Henry was inspecting it as Juliet went for the trunk and Gus ran around the other side.

"It looks like whoever was tied up here had a head injury. The car stopped too fast and he fell off the seat," Henry said as he inspected the blood.

"Guys, come take a look at this!" Juliet yelled from the back of the SUV. Henry and Lassiter were quick to join her. There was a large blood spot on the floor of the trunk which spread under the seat in front of it.

"Probably where Montgomery's body was put on the way over to the water. See, here the pattern seems to come from three spots and work its way outward."

"He was shot in the back three times," Juliet pointed out. Lassiter nodded.

"This was definitely the car that rammed me." Gus' voice was so quiet that they wouldn't have heard him unless there had been a moment of silence just then.

"How can you be sure…" Lassiter trailed off as he rounded to the other side of the car. In the dim twilight they could all see the long scrapes on the side of the car, flaked with blue paint. Gus was on his knees on the ground, trying to catch his breath.

"They weren't after me. They were after Shawn! How could I have been so stupid?" He was mumbling to himself and Juliet sat down next to him as Lassiter pulled out his phone to call in the forces.

Two hours later the place was clear of everyone but the four of them again. The spotlights had been taken down and the blood samples, paint samples, and fingerprints had been taken back to the lab to be processed.

"We're close Gus," Juliet whispered to Gus as she played absently with the ring around her neck. "We're so close."

X X X X X X X X X X

The panic was rising again. Getting stronger until he felt like he was going to snap. He felt like his chest was going to explode from the inside. At least Max would have been blown backwards and wouldn't be able to touch him again with that knife. But that wasn't going to happen and the knife was slowly digging into his lip, making him taste blood. It wasn't a completely unfamiliar taste through the past couple of days though. The knife slid across his cheek, biting, tearing at the flesh there. He followed it with his eyes until it reached his forehead and rested at his hairline. His whole body had been cut today, and he could feel the blood dripping from his arms and legs.

"You know I read in a book once," Max began, only to be cut off with Shawn's laugh.

"You read? Really? I'm sorry, you just don't strike me as a curl-up-with-a-book-and-a-hot-chocolate-on-a-cold-day type of a guy." As expected this was rewarded with some hits and more painful cuttings. But at least the panic had subsided from his chest. It was a horrible deal, but for his own sanity's sake it was sometimes worth it.

The knife rested back at his hairline. "As I was saying, I read in a book that the Native Americans had an interesting way of killing their victims. They would grab their hair like so," he grabbed Shawn's hair and yanked his head back, "and then they would use their tomahawks to cut the top of the skull off of the victim. I believe they called it 'scalping'."

The panic was back.

The knife began to dig into his head and Shawn didn't think he had ever felt this much pain. He couldn't think through it, so he shouted out the first thing that came to his lips. "You're not supposed to kill me yet! There's more I could tell you! More information!" Max suddenly yanked the knife up, cutting a little skin and a lot of hair off the front of Shawn's head. It fell to the floor.

"I'm not trying to kill you. You don't deserve to die yet." He made another swipe, cutting off more hair and skin. Shawn could feel the familiar warm drops of blood starting to slide down his face. He closed his eyes and saw James again, being shot. The bullets were entering his back as a silent scream escaped Shawn's mouth. He was falling, falling, falling and Shawn couldn't do anything about it. It was too much. He didn't remember anything that happened after that. He was vaguely aware of when Max stopped cutting, but he didn't remember screaming as the blood, so much of his blood, ran down his face and dripped off of his chin. He didn't remember feeling it trickle down his back in a warm stream. He didn't remember hearing Boss scream at Max for snapping him too soon. He didn't remember anything until a gentle hand tipped the water bottle back and let him drink.

"Come on Spencer. We're not done. You can't snap now. Come on. Max went too far. He's sorry. Come on kid." How could someone so twisted speak so soothingly? It was kind of messed up. "Look kid, if you come back we'll give you a treat. Look kid, we have pineapple chunks. Come on Spencer." Now he just felt like a dog. "Come here puppy! Come here! We have a treat for you! Come on puppy!" Even still, he was obeying wasn't he? He was thinking clearly, deciding whether or not to come back.

He opened his eyes and focussed on Boss. He was rewarded by a slice of pineapple being placed in his mouth. It tasted so good. He didn't even chew it. He just sucked all the juice out and then swallowed the dried part.

"Good kid. We need to talk to you today."

Shawn groaned. "Why won't you," he choked and started coughing. He coughed for an agonizing minute before Boss tilted the water bottle back up and the water refreshed his aching throat. "Why won't you let me die?" he whispered, hands shaking. He was suddenly very cold. He wished he could have a coat. A big puffy one, like he always made fun of Gus for wearing when they were kids.

"You lied to us, that's why," Boss whispered and suddenly Shawn could hear the evil undertone in his gentle voice. And then there was pressure on his chest. Pushing, pushing, pushing, not letting up. He could feel his mind slipping again and he felt like he was drowning, trying to keep his head above the water. And then there was pain. So much pain. His ribs. They were breaking his ribs one by one. Three ribs were broken before he had even realized what they were doing. Five ribs broken and then they stopped. Shawn was living in a haze, in a dream world. Nothing made sense. What had he lied about? Something was nagging at the back of his mind, something about a lie, but he didn't remember. He didn't know.

"What – what did I lie about?" he stuttered out. His teeth were chattering.

"You tell me kid," Boss said and then there was more pain, more broken ribs.

Boss stopped and looked into Shawn's eyes. They were cloudy but still responsive. And then Shawn remembered what his lie had been. Now he knew how to make it stop.

"I'm not psychic," he whispered.

"Excuse me?" Boss pulled his head back by the tufts of hair that were left and his head exploded in pain.

He screamed and started into a coughing fit again.

"I'm not psychic!"

His whole body was shaking now, and somewhere in the back of his brain Gus' voice told him he was going into shock. Again.

Boss looked confused. "I'm talking about the detective. Carlton Lassiter. My friend had someone followed him. He has a girlfriend that you never mentioned. She's in jail. We want to know about her. What's her name?"

Shawn shook his head, still unwilling to give up Marlowe.

"I don't know! I swear I don't know!"

"I have a friend who would very much appreciate the information Shawn." His voice had gone back to the kind motherly tone.

Shawn shook his head again. More shaking. More cold. More broken ribs. One more shake of the head and Boss was convinced. "No more today Max. We'll give him one more night to tell us what we want to know and then we're done with him tomorrow. Oh and Max? Grab a camera. I want to get that psychic confession on tape before we're done with him."

And then there was silence.

**Awww man...they really need to hurry up and find him. Like really really need to hurry. Come on incredibly fast lab guys that exist only in shows like this! You can do that DNA test in 5 minutes! No really, that's not impossible at all! ;) Anyway, review! Tell me what you thought! PS: I'm gonna be putting up a little Shules 2-shot sometime today that I did just for fun. Check it out. It's not all that amazing but it might make you feel warm and/or fuzzy inside. :) **


	8. Chapter 8

**I have no excuse...It's just that time of year. :p We're a little ahead now though so that's good. Hopefully this won't happen again. Next chapter is halfway! I'm getting excited.** **:) Hope you enjoy, and everyone REVIEW! :D Thank you for your patience! **

Chapter 8

At first Shawn didn't even remember where he was. When he tried to remember it hurt again. His body was shivering so eventually he just gave up. It came back a little, but he just wanted to forget everything. At this point nothing mattered to him. If he forgot Lassiter and the chief, if he forgot Gus and his dad and Jules, it would all be worth it to make the pain end. Boss came in and tried to force him to say something. He didn't really know what was going on though and he just yelled random words to amuse himself. This didn't make Boss happy and resulted in a lot of pain but Shawn didn't care.

He yelled everything and anything he could think of. He was pretty sure he quoted every line from the movie "Big." He was laughing too. They had failed. Their little experiment hadn't worked. He hadn't told them anything. And it didn't matter anymore because he was going to die today.

They got out a camera and tried to get him to repeat something into it. He kept screaming and yelling and laughing. He wouldn't do what they said now. He had already come so far. It was over. He was going to die today. Eventually they gave up.

Max…if that was his name…Shawn wasn't even sure about _that_ by this point, came in with a baseball bat and threw Shawn onto the floor. Shawn didn't even get away or fight back. What was the use? So he just lay there and tried to forget about everything. He tried to forget about the fact that Max was beating him to death and that every bone and muscle in his body was screaming in pain. He would die one way or another. It didn't really matter much if he remembered it happening. His last conscious thoughts were regret that he had never stopped to tell his dad he loved him, sorrow that Gus would have to go on to lead a pretty boring life without him, and sadness that he was leaving Juliet forever. But he wouldn't dwell on the bad things. It had been a good run. He wouldn't trade his time with his friends for anything else in the world. The beating had stopped by this point. Max had left and come back again. Everything was hazy and fuzzy. The last thing he heard was a gunshot and then everything went black for one final time.

X X X X X X X X X X

It was almost an accident that they found the warehouse. They had gotten the paint samples back from the lab first. The paint matched the stuff on Gus' car, which wasn't really a surprise but was good to know and would be helpful evidence in court.

They got the blood samples back next. The massive amounts of blood in the back matched the DNA of their John Doe, now know to be James Montgomery. They assumed he had already been dead when he was loaded into the trunk. The blood on the seat and floor of the middle seats however came back positive as belonging to none other than Santa Barbara's own fake psychic detective Shawn Spencer.

The prints still hadn't come in and everyone was starting to get antsy. Juliet was doing her stress exercise: taking her gun apart and putting it back together. Henry was poring over the DNA report and the new file on James Montgomery as if he hadn't spent the past eight hours looking at them. Gus sat in the corner arguing with his boss on the phone about why he couldn't come into work that day. And Lassiter? He was in the chief's office begging her for some case, _any _case to get everyone's minds off of this one.

The sad thing was that cases had been slow so the only thing for them to do was to check up on some lead about an empty warehouse that some lady had seen some guy go into. It was probably just some kids doing drugs, but it was something.

Later Lassiter thanked God that he and O'Hara had been the ones to check on the tip. He wasn't sure what McNabb would have done in the situation.

They pulled up, completely unaware of anything being wrong. Other than it being old and creepy there wasn't anything suspicious about the warehouse.

It was abandoned and hadn't belonged to anyone in years so they were able to go inside without a warrant. It was creepier on the inside, just an incredibly long and wide door-lined hallway with stairs leading up to another hallway of the same nature. The two of them split up, O'Hara going upstairs in case the floor wouldn't support Lassiter's weight.

He had been opening doors for about three minutes when he heard the faint scream. He tore down the long hall, following the sound until he was sure that he had the right door. The screaming had stopped by the time he got there and he prayed he wasn't too late to help whoever was in there.

"SBPD! Drop your weapon!" Lassiter burst through the door full-force, gun raised, ready for the worst. Honestly, it was worse than he was ready for. His mind took a moment to register the scene before him. As soon as he did he closed the door behind him, sealing them off from the rest of the hall.

A man stood in the middle of the room, gun pointed at a figure sprawled on the floor. Lassiter just managed to register blood before he looked away. He had to concentrate on the guy with the gun first.

"Drop your weapon," he ordered again.

"Drop yours," the man snapped back, "or I'll shoot the little brat!"

"That's not how it works." Lassiter's voice was firm as he took a step closer. The air was heavy and smelled of blood. He was hoping beyond hope that the figure on the floor wasn't who it resembled.

There was a momentary face-off between the two men, one, light blue eyes shining with determination, the other's gray eyes glaring with vicious hatred.

And then it happened. Grey Eyes (It was Max, but of course Lassie didn't know that at the time) tensed. His finger began to pull the trigger. Lassiter saw the muscle move in slow motion and then everything sped up to a blinding speed.

Before Carlton knew it he was racing past the gray-eyed man who lay moaning on the floor, gun across the room, with his arm and shoulder covered in blood. Lassiter knelt down beside the other man, the beaten, bloody one. He took a deep breath and without looking too hard placed his hand on the other's neck. There was a pulse. An irregular and extremely weak pulse but a pulse none the less.

Once he knew the other man was alive he was finally able to look down at his face. He looked away a moment later, fears confirmed. It was definitely Spencer.

A sound outside the closed door startled him and he whipped around, gun in hand. The door opened slightly to reveal blonde strands of hair and beautiful kind blue eyes. O'Hara.

Suddenly everything that was happening hit him full force. That was _Spencer _on the floor over there. That was _Spencer _clinging to life. He wasn't sure which he wanted to do more, shoot Gray Eyes in the head or throw up.

He suddenly felt very protective of his partner. As much as he hated to admit it, O'Hara was Spencer's girlfriend, and maybe something more in the future if the ring he had seen her wearing around her neck was an indication of anything. So he opted to do neither and instead stepped closer to his partner, blocking her view of the scene behind him.

"O'Hara I need you to not ask questions." He spoke to her as if he was speaking to a child. "I need you to step outside and call an ambulance." He thought of Gray Eyes and as much as he hated it he tacked on, "Maybe two."

"Carlton, what happened? I hear a gunshot. Are you ok?" He chose to answer the easier of the two.

He nodded. "O'Hara I'm fine." He had been trying to hide it but something in his expression tipped her off.

"Oh my gosh," she whispered, hoping for the answer she wanted, although honestly she wasn't even sure what that was. "Did you find Shawn?"

Carlton didn't even have to speak. His face said it all. He grabbed her shoulders as she suddenly began to fight frantically to see around him.

"O'Hara." His voice was deathly serious. "Go call an ambulance." She hadn't even heard him. "O'Hara, go call an ambulance." She kept fighting. "O'Hara!" She snapped her head up and blue gazed into blue. "Go. Call. An. Ambulance. _Now._"

Her body slumped dejectedly as she realized the gravity of the situation. When her partner used that tone there was no argument. She turned and stepped out the door, flipping her phone open to call the emergency center. Carlton closed the door behind her.

That left him alone in the room. He took his time now, knowing that it would take the ambulances a few minutes to arrive. He handcuffed the now unconscious Gray Eyes and tied a strip of cloth around the bullet hole in the other man's arm. He had to keep from going for his gun again when Gray Eyes stirred and smiled. The guy had no qualms about ruthlessly torturing Shawn. But he needed to come at this like a cop, he reminded himself. Well, for now anyway. Not a friend, a cop.

After he made sure Gray Eyes was secure he went over to Shawn. Honestly, there wasn't much he could do for the other man. Lassiter checked Shawn's pulse again. Still barely alive.

Carlton took a deep breath and began to assess Shawn's injuries. The man's left leg was shredded and bloody with bone showing. Lassiter cursed himself for eating lunch as he had to look away to keep from losing it.

The other leg had cut and burn marks up and down it, as did his arms. His palms were covered in burn marks and the backs of both hands had a large, circular brand mark bearing the initials BB. The same mark blazed on his stomach between his ribs. His ribs were visible through his skin, probably from lack of food, and some of them were bent and cracked and broken.

His chest was criss-crossed with flaming red cut lines, and his face had been badly cut too. And his hair…well…Lassiter allowed himself a small smile. If Shawn could see the condition his hair was in, he would freak. Most of it was gone, along with new scabs forming on his scalp. Besides all that there were already bruises starting to form all over his body. He was flopped out on his back like a rag doll.

"Carlton…" the voice came again from behind the door. He strode over and opened the door a crack, making sure once again to keep his body between Spencer and O'Hara.

"Yes O'Hara?" he asked.

"I called for an ambulance. Tell me how he is Carlton." He looked up, admiring the fire he saw in her eyes and letting it refuel him as well. He even allowed himself to smile slightly. He knew he was the one that had installed the fire in her, and he was proud of her for still holding onto it through this whole mess. He cleared his throat.

"Truthfully, not good. He's alive, but that's about all."

She kept her face stoic and nodded. "Whose gun went off?"

"Mine," Lassiter admitted. "The kidnapper was going to shoot Shawn and I shot before he could." She nodded again.

"Is he…?" she left the question hanging open, but Lassiter knew what she was asking.

"No. I hit his arm." They stood in silence for a moment before Lassiter sighed. "We should call this in to the station."

Juliet gave him a small smile. "Already did it. They're on their way." Lassiter smiled back and then they just stood there until they heard the sound of sirens from far away.

"Go flag them down," Lassiter directed her. "And O'Hara?" he said, noticing her fiddling with the ring around her neck, "he's going to be ok." He nodded to her with more surety than he felt. She nodded back and headed down the hall.

Soon the room was a flurry of activity. They got Grey Eyes out of there quickly and then most of the paramedics devoted their attention to Shawn.

Apparently they had to do a few things before they could move him. Lassiter finally got tired of listening to words he didn't understand and went to wait with O'Hara for the chief to arrive. O'Hara wasn't where she was supposed to be. He went looking for her and finally found her in one of the rooms, all alone and slumped against the wall, looking for all the world like a sullen teenager. Her head was turned away but he guessed she had been crying.

She heard him approach and turned to look at him. His hunch had been right. Her eyes were red and her mascara had started to run. But the fire in her eyes was even brighter than it had been. It almost scared him when he looked at her.

Her voice was low and clouded with emotion when she spoke. "I saw the guy who kidnapped him," she confessed. He didn't respond so she continued. "I attacked him."

"O'Hara…" Lassiter breathed her name quietly.

"They wheeled him right by me and I just…I don't know! I've never wanted to kill someone that badly before in my life! I mean I've wanted to shoot a few perps before to make them shut up but this was different. I just wanted to strangle him with my bare hands. I wanted to see him suffer…They had to pull me off of him." Carlton's arm was around her now, holding her close as she let out an angry emotion-filled sob. "How did you do it Carlton? Being in the room and finding him and not…" she trailed off.

Lassiter took a deep breath. "Instinct and training O'Hara. That's all. And I really honestly considered shooting him in the head."

She smiled sadly and finally hugged him back, her eyes still filled with the fire. They stood silent for a few moments until they heard movement outside. Juliet pulled away from him and began to move towards the open door.

"That must be Shawn," she whispered more to herself than to Carlton.

"O'Hara!" Carlton charged toward her, but he wasn't fast enough.

Time seemed to slow for a second time in the past hour. Carlton could see every miniscule detail of the situation. Shawn looked no better than before and even the paramedics had panicked expressions as they wheeled the gurney by. But Carlton was watching Juliet. He saw the exact moment that what she was seeing registered. He saw the fire in her eyes snuffed out and the color go dark. He saw the beads of sweat that suddenly littered her face. And then...then there was nothing. No exclamation, no screaming, nothing. She just turned her head to watch Shawn pass and then quietly walked the opposite way down the hall.

"O'Hara!" he called again. "Juliet!" It was like she hadn't even heard him. There was no doubt that she was going into shock.

He was about to run after her when he heard a commotion outside. He suddenly remembered that the chief had been on her way and ran toward the door to meet her.

The ambulance had pulled away and an officer was loading Henry and Guster into his squad car, no doubt to follow it to the hospital. The chief and most of the station's uniformed officers were walking toward him.

"Detective Lassiter?" The chief didn't exactly ask him a question but he had known her long enough to know what she wanted. He led her to the crime scene, paling a little when they got there, but not enough for anyone to notice. The chief sent the officers through the building and Lassiter left to go find Juliet.

She was just standing there at the end of the hallway, staring at the wall. Silently he grabbed her shaking wrist and led her down the hall to where Buzz was.

"McNabb." He said the name much more gently than usual for his partner's sake. "I want you to take O'Hara over to whatever hospital they just took Spencer to. Make sure they treat her for shock. When she comes out of it she'll want to see Spencer. Make sure they let her. I'll finish up here."

McNabb nodded and took her wrist from Lassiter. He led her outside to his car and let her into the front seat.

Once they had pulled away Lassiter turned and went back into the warehouse. The next few hours flew by. They were spent searching the warehouse and trying to figure out exactly what had happened. But Grey Eyes must have really known what he was doing. They found hardly any evidence. The only weapon they found was a baseball bat that they guessed had been used to beat Shawn. But none of the details could really come together until either Shawn or Grey Eyes woke up.

It was only after everyone was gone: officers, evidence, crime scene guys, lab guys, photographers, and the chief, that Lassiter allowed himself to go behind the building, fall to his knees, and throw up all the contents of his stomach into the bushes.

**Wow...That was intence...so like I said, chapter 9 will be halfway! And the "plot bunnies" as I have heard them called have been working like crazy so when I'm done with this one I already have another one planned to write! The working title is currently "Seven things you never told me about my mother" and it's a future fic. I'm super excited about it. But I'm keeping myself from writing it until I'm done with this one. :) I might also be posting a fic my cousin and I are doing starring ourselves as Shawn and Juliet's daughters. :) It's pretty fun to write actually. Cuz we're nice and crazy in real life like we are in the story. lol. Oh and for those who commented as such...yes...It did kill me to mess up Shawn's hair. I love his hair almost as much as he does. Almost. lol. But anyway REVIEW! Let me know what you thought! Thanks! :D**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi guys! It's me again! I'm alive, I promise. Just a warning following up on the three or four weeks of no posting: I probably will NOT be posting for another two or three weeks. This is the time of year when things get crazy because we have this HUGE fine arts competition at my school. And because it's small...everyone is in everything. And that includes me. So I have no time ever at this time of year. If I do get a chance to post, I'll be really happy though. This chapter was harder to write than I thought it would be and I didn't always have my computer with me all the time I was ready to write. So I will sincerely say that I am sorry I haven't posted in a while. Please enjoy the chapter! And review, because I get really excited when I see the e-mails. :) Those who have stories know what I'm talking about. Oh and PS: Dear person who commented about the Speedway thing: Thank you so much for that comment! You don't have a PM account so I couldn't message you about it, but that is such an interesting fact that I didn't know (If you're wondering, they said there are no Speedway stations in CA). I may go back and change it later, but I feel the need to respect them and their amazing Slurpees...so we'll see. :D haha! Anyway, thanks for that technical comment/fun fact! Now please stop reading this insanely long author's note and enjoy! :D**

Chapter 9

Hospitals were always cold. Nothing but tile floors, white walls, and too much air conditioning. They were filled with tired doctors and nurses, hurting patients, and worrying families. There was no way to make a visit to the hospital fun.

Scratch that. There was one person who could make the hospital a fun place.

He remembered the dare quite vividly. He had begged Shawn not to do it, but even back then Shawn had never listened to him. They were at a party senior year and some big college kid had dared Shawn to jump from the home's second story balcony onto the trampoline.

Gus was pretty sure that even Shawn wouldn't have been stupid enough to try it except that (unknown to them) the college kids had spiked the punch. To make things worse, Shawn's love interest, Abigail, had been there. The drunkenness combined with wanting to impress Abigail was what had landed Shawn in the hospital with a broken shoulder bad enough to get him surgery and an overnight stay.

But Shawn hadn't been one bit worried or afraid and Gus knew the credit for that didn't go to the alcohol in his system – not entirely anyway. Even with his arm hanging limply at his side Shawn had been determined to cheer up the elderly woman in the waiting room whose young granddaughter had fallen and cracked her head and the girl whose mother had just been diagnosed with cancer. By the time it was his turn to be examined he had them both smiling and laughing. He also had the younger girl's phone number.

Gus glanced up at his friend lying pale and stiff on the hospital bed. He shuddered. He had only caught a glimpse of what Shawn had looked like when they first brought him in, and what he had seen hadn't looked good. His friend couldn't die. Not now. This wasn't how Shawn was supposed to go out.

He glanced over at Juliet. She and he had been together in this up until this point, but now his grief was nowhere near the level of hers. It also helped that he hadn't gotten a good look at Shawn. She had, and she had just come out of shock a few hours ago. Now she was curled up in the chair next to him.

She felt his eyes on her and smiled a little. Wordlessly she moved around and rested her head on his shoulder. He didn't try to protest. She was tired and he was cold and they were both completely worn out by the events of the day.

When they had first brought Shawn in, he could tell that the doctors expected the worst. They kept coming out during the surgery and reporting to those in the waiting room. Shawn had flatlined twice but they had been able to bring him back. According to the doctor their biggest concerns were infection and what his mental state would be when he woke up. The doctors had been forced to sedate him because he had started to wake up on the ambulance and had continued to yell and scream no matter what they did. The doctor said Shawn wasn't "lucid."

Gus sighed, trying to release some of the pressure in his chest and convince himself that his best friend would be fine. Eventually he felt his eyes slipping closed and he fell asleep.

X X X X X X X X X X

Henry and Maddie returned from their taco run to find Gus and Juliet snuggled together on two of the uncomfortable bedside chairs. Henry almost woke them up, but eventually he thought better of it. It had been a hard day for all of them, but especially for Juliet. When Buzz brought her in she had been completely in shock. It had taken awhile for her to snap out of it and then she had cried for almost an hour.

The doctors and nurses had been great to all of them. He tried not to consider that it might have been because they didn't expect Shawn to make it. During Shawn's surgery they had given him constant updates. They had even offered to run next door for food for him, but he had turned it down. He was pretty sure he couldn't sit on his butt for much longer and they weren't going to try to bring Shawn out of the sedation until the next day anyway.

He sat back down in his chair and opened his taco. At least he knew the police were being thorough. Lassiter had been with them and he hadn't shown up at the hospital yet. Buzz had assured them that he was helping first at the scene and then at the station and would be over as soon as he was done.

About a half-hour later Lassiter arrived and Gus and Juliet woke up. Henry gave Gus and Juliet their food and Maddie offered Lassiter some food, which he flatly denied. Someone found a deck of cards in the waiting room and they started up a game of "go fish" on the floor. It was completely surreal to be playing a game next to Shawn's bedside, but no one really wanted to think about what had happened and no one wanted to leave so it seemed like the best way to go. The doctor came in eventually and told them that visiting hours were over. As much as Henry protested the doctor insisted that he go home. He assured Henry that they would not be trying to bring Shawn out of the sedation until the next morning and that Shawn would be perfectly safe at the hospital.

X X X X X X X X X X

Lassiter was the first out and he went directly back to the station. He had work to do. He had to get a confession out of Gray Eyes, who they had identified as Max Brachman. He pulled up to the station and then just sat there in his car, trying to soak in everything that had happened. After over a week of doing nothing but waiting, now everything seemed to be happening so fast.

He was at his desk without really remembering the walk in. He was on his way down to the interrogation room where Max was waiting for him when the chief intercepted him and asked him for his gun. At first he didn't understand why she wanted it. It was late and his mind wasn't connecting A to C as well as it usually did. But suddenly he remembered what Juliet had said and he realized that he probably wasn't the only one that night who had considered killing the guy. Everyone at the station loved Shawn, no matter how much they pretended to hate his antics.

He handed over his beloved weapon with out complaint, just this once, he told himself. And just because he was tired and it had been a long day and he just wanted to get the interrogation over with. He sighed and pushed the door open to see the gray eyes staring at him once again. It was going to be a long night.

X X X X X X X X X X

Juliet exited the hospital room behind Lassiter with Gus at her side, as if neither wanted to be the one to leave first. She gave him one last quick hug and walked over to where Buzz was waiting on the other end of the parking lot for her. He had offered to drive her home and she had taken him up on it, for once not caring that she would have to get picked up the next morning. She was emotionally and physically drained and she just wanted to curl up on her couch with her cats purring beside her.

Buzz chatted the whole way back to her house. She appreciated not having to sit quietly in the dark but she hoped he couldn't tell that she wasn't listening. He gave her a wave and his signature beaming smile as he dropped her off. She smiled back and turned to enter her apartment. The walk up to the door seemed to take forever. She didn't even have the energy to change into her comfortable clothes. She just fell onto the couch and flipped on the TV. At this point the best thing she could think of to do was just to sleep. Maybe when she woke up all of her problems would be gone. Her eyes drifted closed as the opening credits for the Beverly Hillbillies played across her screen. Her last conscious thought was that Shawn must have been the last one to watch her TV.

X X X X X X X X X X

Gus hugged Juliet goodbye and headed out to his car. Buzz had kindly picked up his car from the police station where he had left it this morning…was it only this morning? It was hard to believe. He threw his coat into the passenger's seat. It was a nice cool Santa Barbara night, the kind that had convinced him he wanted to spend his whole life here when he was a kid. He sighed for the millionth time in the past few hours and slid into the driver's seat. He turned the key in the ignition and immediately sat back with such force that the seat jiggled. His mind was suddenly flooded with memories of Shawn. It seemed like he was hardly ever in the "blueberry" without Shawn beside him in the passenger seat.

In the beginning he used to let Shawn drive but when Shawn scratched the car for the first time and Gus found out he had to pay for any damages inflicted on the company car he had banned Shawn from driving. Sometimes it was hard to remember that Shawn was thirty. He shook his head trying to clear his memories but the empty Monster can on the floor wasn't helping.

He hadn't had a chance to clean it up since he and Shawn rode together last, the day before he was kidnapped. He had specifically told Shawn two things that day: One, there was to be no eating or drinking in the car, and two, he wasn't allowed to have caffeine. He had been crazy hyper enough already. So of course, just because Gus had said no, Shawn had gone and bought a Monster and drunk it in Gus' car. It was once of the things Gus secretly loved about Shawn. The guy didn't listen to _anybody._

Gus just sat there for a moment, looking at the empty can, wondering what he should do. He really didn't think he had the energy to walk all the way back to the garbage can at the front doors but as long as the can was there he had a constant reminder of how close he had come to loosing his best friend. Dark thoughts flitted through his mind, thoughts about infection and fever and mental illness. It seemed to be what the doctor had been preparing them for. In one smooth motion Gus scooped up the can and threw it out the window. He had never littered before in his life, and (although he knew that Shawn would make fun of him for thinking it) breaking the rules, even such a small one, felt kind of liberating. So the whole way home he drove twelve over the speed limit, and when he got to his apartment building he walked the whole way to the door on the grass. He had a fleeting thought as to whether or not he could get arrested for waking everyone in the apartment building up by screaming at the top of his lungs, but he opted instead to go to bed, his heart, in spite of everything, still heavy in his chest.

X X X X X X X X X X

Henry grabbed Maddie's hand and they slipped out the door behind everyone else. They stopped one more time outside the door to look back at their only son lying in the hospital bed.

"Are you sure you don't want me to…make them let us stay?" he asked her tentatively. She laughed.

"No Henry, I don't think that will be necessary. Besides, you know he's right. We both need some sleep."

"I could still sleep here…" he mumbled under his breath. Of course she heard him.

"That's my Henry, always argumentative…" she smiled.

"I am not!" His cheeks reddened and he suddenly felt like he was in first grade again as he heard her call him "_My _Henry."

She raised her eyebrow as if to say, "point taken" and his cheeks reddened even more. She squeezed his hand and he led her out to his old truck. The ride home was quiet and when they got back Maddie immediately headed upstairs.

Henry wasn't at all tired so he sauntered out to the front porch and just sat, staring up at the stars. His kid almost hadn't made it. He couldn't believe it but it was true. Shawn had almost died and Henry knew it. He could see it as well as anyone else could. It had been plastered all over the doctors' faces all day. Honestly, if he wanted to be realistic, Shawn wasn't quite out scott free yet. There was still the infection raging through his body that the doctors seemed to be very nervous about, not to mention what his mental state would be like when he woke up. That was what everyone seemed the most nervous about.

The doctors had told him privately that there was some brain damage done due to the beating Shawn had received right before the detectives had arrived. He figured he would see how Shawn was tomorrow before he got too nervous. Besides, Shawn had always been the most stubborn person he knew. The kid wasn't going to give up without a fight, no matter what mental state he was in. Henry drifted off to sleep, lulled by the waves. He stayed there until Maddie came and got him and led him to bed.

X X X X X X X X X X

First it was black. Then it was white. Now black. Now white. Black. White. Black. White. He was thinking. For some reason that was good. Black and white. Black and white. Black and tan? He struggled. It was familiar, but he couldn't remember why. Something green? And a beautiful woman. Suddenly a pain exploded in his head. He moaned. He was shaking. He didn't know what he had been thinking about. That was bad. But he was thinking. That was good. Where was he? How had he gotten to this nice, warm…he felt around…bed? He held his breath for a moment. Good. He had remembered bed. Black. White. Black. White. He was suddenly aware of a burning on his chest. Cuts. It felt like when he gave himself a paper cut in school. Maybe a knife?

Pain. Blinding, searing pain in his head. His head was going to blow up and his guts were going to go all over the room. An image flashed. Oh gosh no. More pain. He was bleeding, his blood coating his whole body and the chair he was in. Gosh no. No. He was shaking, shivering uncontrollably. He was barely aware that he was screaming.

"Fine! Fine!" he screamed to no one. Then nothing again. He couldn't remember. Black. White. Black. White. He was thinking. Cuts from knives. Pain in his head. No, they must have been from paper. The pain was going away. That was it! He tried to remember more. Blood…no…something…something else. The pain was getting worse. He started shivering again. And for the third time everything was gone.

Oh well. It would be ok if he didn't remember now. At least his mind was clear. There was no more pain, and he wasn't about to bring it back if he could help it. He finally pried open his eyes. Black. White. Black. White. White. White…white…more white…

**Shawn is waking up! I'm actually really excited about what's to come because I kinda cheated and wrote that part first...which means I don't have any of the next chapter done but a lot of later chapters. lol. I feel like I do when I read the end of a story first. Does anyone here do that? I can't believe it when people do! My friend does. She says she does it to see if she wants to spend her time on the book. She says if it's a crappy ending she just doesn't read any more...idk. It ruins the suspence for me. Speaking of suspence...stay tuned! More will come your way in a few weeks! Until then, review! :D Oh and Youtube the video "Psych Jumpstart." No idea who made this but it is definitely the best Psych video I have ever seen! SUPER well done. You will not be disappointed! Let me know if there are any general Psych or maybe Shules videos that you've found (or maybe made) and I'll check them out! :) Last, but not least, let me know what you thought of the premiere! I loved it personally! Let me know your favorite parts! Until next chapter...bye!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hello all! How has everyone been? :) I'm back with a new chapter! If anyone was wondering, competition went really well. I got third in state for my piano solo which is pretty good for me, and we're taking fifteen things to nationals. Considering that I'm from a small private school with only 21 kids in the whole high school...that's pretty good. :D Nationals is in two weeks, so be prepared for another week without a chapter then. Sorry. :/ But I hope you enjoy this chapter even though it is another hospital chapter, which I personally find to be the most boring. Speaking of hospitals, what did everyone think of "Let's Doo-Whop it Again"? Most of the people reading this are whump fans I know, so from a whump fan perspective it was kind of a let-down. I don't know though. Let me know what you thought. And let me know what you think of the story! I keep forgetting to do a disclaimer so here it...to mark the half-way point of the story. :) **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Psych. Obviously. That is why I am writing Fan Fiction and not writing season 7 scripts right now. :)**

Chapter 10

Juliet O'Hara had been having a horrible day. Given "personal leave" from work, she had nothing to do. She spent her morning at the hospital with the comatose Shawn, but she had found that she would rather not spend all of her time with him. It only made her feel worse to see him so quiet and still. She thought about going into work anyway, against the chief's wishes, but she thought better of it. Lassiter had warned her that he was going to be interrogating Max all day and he didn't want her there. She didn't blame him. She had really snapped yesterday when she had seen the man. Unfortunately his being in custody now just meant that this evil villain had a face and a name. She wondered what, if anything, Lassiter would get out of him. She doubted that they would need a confession with two police officers as witnesses, but there was always the possibility that his lawyer would press that Lassiter had just been trigger happy and Juliet had been a little out of her mind. So a confession would seal the deal nicely.

She turned the wheel of her car and pulled neatly into the parking space. She wasn't really sure what she was doing here, but she had come and she wasn't going to go back now. She had to meet everyone else at the hospital in three hours and she sure as heck didn't want to sit around by herself with her jumbled thoughts until then.

She knew he was here immediately. It was never hard to tell when Gus was around. His car stuck out amongst the maroon, black, silver, and forest green cars in the parking lot like a sore thumb. If that wasn't enough, the window on the side of the building was slightly ajar, and Gus would _never _forget to close a window. She knocked on the door as a formality. The Psych office was always open (that was Shawn's fault) but she didn't want to scare Gus by just walking in. They had all been a little jumpy lately.

He answered the door, full well knowing whom it was. He and Juliet had spent almost all of their spare time together since Shawn had gone missing, something that wasn't well known by everyone else. It was a little awkward at first, but they were two puzzle pieces missing a common middle, and that bound them together.

He let her in with a silent smile and then went back to his desk. She sat across from him in Shawn's chair and began her new nervous habit – slipping the ring around her neck on and off her finger. She suddenly became aware of the silence in the room and swung the chair around to reach Shawn's radio. She turned it on, jumping as the 80's music blasted through the speaker. She quickly turned the radio down, giving the freaked-out looking Gus an apologetic glance.

"Sorry."

"No problem."

He went back to what he had been doing before – shuffling through papers.

"What are you up to?" she asked him after a few moments of examination.

"I don't know…maybe I've just been around Shawn for too long, but something about this isn't sitting right with me. What did that guy want with Shawn?"

"Hopefully that's what Lassiter's been finding out for the past few hours," she said.

"I know, and I'm not saying I doubt Lassie's ability, but this guy…he just doesn't seem like the type. The more I research him, the more I'm convinced that there's something we're missing."

"Like what?" she questioned, standing up to look over his shoulder.

But before Gus could reply, Juliet's cell phone began to ring. "Hang on, this is Henry," she told Gus and then picked up the phone, putting it on speaker so that Gus could hear.

"Hello Henry, this is Juliet," she said a little timidly.

"Juliet, is Gus with you?"

"Yes Mr. Spencer, I'm here," Gus piped up.

"Good. The two of you need to get down to the hospital. Shawn seems to be coming out of it on his own. He's waking up now."

Gus was already up and grabbing his jacket and keys. "We're on our way now Henry," Juliet told him. "See you in a few minutes. Bye."

"Goodbye."

A strange dread washed over Juliet. What condition would Shawn be in when they got there? Was he going to be ok? She hopped in the passenger's side of the blueberry and they headed toward the hospital, completely forgetting about she and Gus' earlier conversation…at least for now.

X X X X X X X X X X

Henry had been with Shawn all day. There was no good reason to go to the station today (unless he wanted to see that scumbag Max, which he most certainly did not) so he had spent the day at the hospital instead. Maddie had gone out to make some calls and get some work done. As much as he still loved her, he was very aware that in Maddie's life, work had always come before family. This was a huge sacrifice for her to be taking off of work all this time to be with Shawn.

But really, he didn't mind the time alone. Maddie had been staying at his…their…_the _house and he hadn't gotten to spend much time alone – especially not with Shawn – since she had come.

Juliet had spent the morning with him and he had made sure to excuse himself for a few hours so she could have some alone time with Shawn too. He was well aware of where the ring that now hung around her neck had come from and he knew she deserved as much private time with Shawn as he did now…maybe even more. Eventually she left and he went back in.

He had brought a fishing magazine to keep himself occupied but he mostly flipped through it without really reading it. He slept a little but it wasn't a very deep sleep. He knew they were planning on bringing Shawn out at about two and he had a lot of time to kill. He was just about to get up to take a stroll down the hall when one of the machines beside Shawn's bed suddenly went off.

The beeping startled him and he immediately pressed the call button, unsure of what to do. A nurse entered a few moments later and he explained what had happened. She checked the machine and suddenly there were several doctors and nurses cluttering Shawn's room, pushing Henry farther and farther from his son's bed. He finally managed to ask a doctor what was going on. Apparently Shawn was waking up. The doctor told him to alert friends and family now. Shawn was coming out of it pretty fast, and all on his own. They were estimating that he would be fully conscious within the hour.

Henry made all the calls without leaving the room, feeling a swell of pride for his son. His incredibly strong, brave son. But then, just as it seemed the number of people in the room was thinning, Shawn began to toss and turn in the bed. Afraid of him hurting himself the doctors quickly strapped him down. He began to moan quietly and the doctors gave him some pain medication in his IV. He quieted slightly and his breathing became more regular. Then, all in one instant his breath began to come in short bursts. His chest heaved up and down as he strained for breath. His body started having spasms and he pulled against his restraints. The machines were going off like crazy and the room was packed with people. Henry pushed his way through the crowd and reached Shawn's side just as he let out a sickening scream. He screamed a few times before it changed from sound to words. "Fine! Fine!" he was screaming. Henry tried to grab his hand but someone pushed him away from Shawn's bed again.

However, after Shawn quieted down again, it seemed the worst had passed. His breath became panicked again at one point but he calmed down again quickly. His breathing became more regular and eventually there were only a few nurses and a doctor left in the room. Henry was able to approach his son. Shawn's eyelids started to flutter as if he was having a hard time opening his eyes. In the back of his mind Henry was wondering where everyone was, but he figured they must be on their way. Besides, there was no time to worry about anyone else. Shawn was waking up. That was all that mattered.

Suddenly, Shawn's eyes opened and he was gazing into hazel. He grasped Shawn's hand, but Shawn tried to pull away. When he realized that he was restrained he began to panic again, tugging frantically at his bonds. Henry let out a few curt words and Shawn was free. But something still didn't feel right. Shawn was curled up on himself on the far side of the bed, staring blankly at the wall. And those hazel eyes had just been so…empty.

"Shawn?" he whispered, daring to speak to his son for the first time in so long. Shawn didn't react and so Henry walked around the bed, trying to make eye contact. "Shawn?" he tried again. Shawn groaned and curled up even more, trying to hide his face. "Shawn, do you know who I am?" He received only a small groan. "Shawn, it's ok. I'm not going to hurt you. It's me. It's Dad." Shawn groaned again, louder this time and Henry caved into his fatherly instincts. "It's ok Shawn. Daddy's here. Daddy's not going to let anyone hurt you anymore." In any other situation he would have been embarrassed to be using that tone of voice with all the other people in the room, but now he didn't care. He just wanted his son to be ok.

Shawn looked up slightly. "Daddy?"

"Yeah Shawn, it's me."

"Who…what…where am I?" He looked like a scared child and Henry felt his heart wrench.

"You're in the hospital Shawn." He was about to go on when Shawn let out another groan and put his head in his hands.

"Stop…stop calling me that."

"Stop calling you what?"

"That name. Stop saying it."

"What name? 'Shawn?' That's your name kid," Henry argued.

"Well I don't like it. Don't call me that. Call me something else."

Henry looked at the doctor behind him, trying to figure out what to do. The doctor nodded. "Do what he wants."

"What do you want me to call you kid?" Henry asked him quietly.

"I don't know. What's my other name? My…" Shawn paused as if he were trying to find the right word, "My last name?"

Henry was taken aback. Up until now it seemed that Shawn had remembered everything clearly. Was it possible that Shawn had amnesia? He looked at the doctor again and the other man seemed to read his thoughts. "We won't know if he has amnesia or not until we do some tests. It's certainly seeming like it now though, isn't it?" He gave Henry a small, sad smile.

"Daddy?" Shawn complained.

"Sorry kid. Your last name is Spencer. Do you like that better?"

In reply Shawn ran his fingers over his face. The marks on his hands were still raw and red. "No. That's not better. I don't like it Daddy. It hurts." His voice had taken on the whine of a small child in pain.

"Ok…um…well I don't know then kid. You've got to give me some ideas."

"How about Spence?" one of the nurses piped up.

Shawn smiled at her, the first real smile he had given anyone in so long. "That's good! I like it Daddy! Call me Spence!"

It was at that moment that Gus and Juliet chose to make their entrance. Juliet heard Shawn's voice right away and burst in, a huge smile on her face. Henry held up his hand, immediately halting both she and Gus. They could tell by his face that something was wrong. Shawn turned to see the two people who had entered the room.

"Spence," Henry said, keeping his voice level, "these are some of your friends. This is Juliet and that is Gus." Shawn's eyes skimmed over Gus before stopping to rest on Juliet. A familiar glow suddenly shone in them and a shy smile spread over his face.

"Hi Miss Juliet," he whispered timidly.

"Shawn – Spence. You don't have to call her Miss. She's just Juliet," Henry corrected him.

"But Daddy, you said to always call grown-ups Mr. and Mrs. and Miss," Shawn said matter-of-factly.

The smile dropped from Juliet's face. "Henry, he doesn't remember us, does he?"

"I don't know," Henry answered honestly.

"We're going to do some tests as soon as they're ready for us over there," the doctor informed them. "It should be a few minutes."

"Mr. Gus, I like your name. My best friend's name is Gus too." Gus looked shocked.

"Shawn, this is your best friend Gus," Juliet corrected him. She was met with a quiet scream. Shawn rolled over again to face the wall. His breathing became erratic like before and his hands rubbed his eyes hard.

"Spence, Juliet. You have to call him Spence. He freaks out like this if you call him anything else," Henry explained quickly.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry Spence. I didn't mean to scare you. I didn't know." Her voice was timid as if she was afraid of scaring him again.

He looked at her distrustfully and looked back at his dad. "Daddy, I'm tired. Can I go to sleep now?"

"No Spence, I need you stay up. The doctors need to do some tests on you." _To see if this damage is permanent. _Henry silently added.

As if on cue a doctor poked his head into the room. "We're ready for him."

"We're going to need you to wait in the waiting room while we perform the tests," one of the nurses told them as kindly as possible. They complied and what followed was the longest three hours of their entire lives, full of hope, fear, and trying not to let the tears in their eyes fall.

**Yes...before you get all confused, all your questions will be resolved next chapter. I'll give you a long doctor's monologue about what's wrong with Shawn if that's what you want. But I must asure you now that this will not a cliche "Shawn has amnesia and can't remember anyone" story. I am going somewhere with this. There's a lot more to it than him not being able to remember. Stick with me here. :) And now, don't be a giant snapping turtle. Click that button down below and REVIEW! :D **


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello all! I'm back with another chapter! It's a little shorter this week and I apologize for that. But I think you will find it quite revealing. Not too much Shawn whumping in here but...uh...next time is going to be very intense so I figured we should have a bit of a break. Can't believe Psych season 6 is almost over! ****:( Looking forward to the first non Yin/Yang finale since season 2 though! They've really gotta bring the good stuff to this to follow that trilogy up! Ah well I guess I'll just have to stick to FanFic to pass the time till season 7. :) And speaking of FanFics there's one right under these words! Enjoy it! :D**

Chapter 11

Carlton Lassiter closed the door behind him with a _bang! _and ran his fingers through his hair. He was going on his seventh hour of interrogation, and _he _was about ready to crack. Max Brachman had been in the interrogation room for about eleven hours now, being questioned by Lassiter and others, and he still wouldn't even speak.

Lassiter walked into the viewing room where he knew the chief was waiting for him. He surveyed Max through the glass. Max stared strait ahead at the wall, like he had been doing for the past eleven hours.

"Chief, I know I'm usually not one to freely admit this, but between you and me, I'm at a loss for what to do. I've tried everything I know. And this guy still won't crack! I don't get it. What does he have to loose?"

The chief turned to him very suddenly. She looked thoughtful as she said, "That's a good question Detective. What _does _he have to loose? What isn't he telling us?"

"At this point, he's not telling us anything! Honestly chief, I'd like a confession out of him. I'm not sure how well O'Hara and my stories will hold up in court."

"Well, there's always the DNA evidence. And the fingerprints."

"A confession seals the deal."

"Well then Detective," she turned back to the window, "go in there and get it."

He sighed and nodded. He stopped to take a long gulp of the coffee McNabb was offering him before entering the room again.

He had just sat down across from Brachman when McNabb cracked the door open.

"Sir, there's some news for you," he told Lassiter, motioning him over. Lassiter kept one eye on Max, who kept both eyes on the wall as McNabb whispered, "We just got a call from Henry. Shawn's waking up, but there's no word on his condition yet."

Lassiter nodded a quick thanks and turned to the table. "You hear that Lowlife? Shawn's waking up. Once he's awake we'll have his statement and you'll be out of here and into a cell to rot for the rest of your life." When there was no reaction, Lassiter continued. "Besides murder and attempted murder we've got plenty of other charges to press. You've got quite a track record. We know everything you've been doing for the past fifteen years. Now if you confess, we might be able to drop a few of those charges. Maybe shave a bit of time off of your sentence. But this is your last chance."

Max never moved his eyes from the wall, but finally spoke in a voice that sent chills down Lassiter's spine (though he'd never admit it).

"You think you're the only one who knows things Detective…Lassiter I believe it is? I know plenty about you. You have a girlfriend, I know that. She's in the state penitentiary until April twenty-third. Prisoner number 495. Her name is Marlowe. Personally I don't find her that attractive but everyone's entitled to his own opinion I guess."

Lassiter's face lost all color and he reacted impulsively, reaching across the table and grabbing Max by his shirt collar.

"Who told you that? How did you know that?"

Max finally turned his head and stared at Lassiter with those gray eyes once again.

"I have ways, Detective. Oh and one more thing. You're boy's not going to talk. Rumor has it that he went a little kooky during his incarceration."

"_Incarseration_? You tortured him you scumbag! You beat him in the head with a baseball bat! He almost _died_!" Lassiter slammed his fists down on the table, but Max didn't even jump. Instead he stared back at his spot on the wall and smiled slightly.

"I'd like to use my right to remain silent now, Detective. As always, it's been a pleasure." He smirked and fingered the bandage on his shoulder.

Lassiter stood up suddenly, not even bothering to care about picking up his toppled chair. He opened the door to the hallway forcefully, startling McNabb. He stomped out into the small area behind the stairs and vented his frustration by bashing his fists into the wall several times.

Why did this guy make him so angry? He had dealt with criminals that enjoyed their destruction before and he had never gotten this angry. Was it because it was Spencer? He banished the thought from his brain immediately. But his own words still rang in his head, "He almost _died_!" Spencer almost died. The whole weight of the situation suddenly felt too heavy. He resumed punching the wall until he felt the weight of a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see the chief.

"How the _heck _did he know about Marlowe?" he burst out.

"I don't know Carlton," she sighed. "But his comment about Shawn has me worried. I think I'm going to call the interrogation quits for the day. Grab your jacket. Let's go check up on Mr. Spencer."

X X X X X X X X X X

Gus buried his head in his hands as another scream echoed down the hallway. The only sound in the waiting room was Henry's stomping as he paced from the door to the chairs where they were all seated and back again. Juliet had left to "go get something to eat" but everyone knew she just wanted out of there. To be perfectly honest, no one else wanted to be there either. Just sitting there subjected to listening to –

Another scream sounded from behind the closed doors. "No! Stop! Leave me alone! Get your hands off me!" The words were barely distinguishable, but the three people left in the waiting room knew Shawn well enough to understand him no matter what. After all, he hadn't figured out that talking with his mouth full was impolite until after age sixteen.

Gus smiled at the memories, but he didn't let the smile stay on his face long. It felt too inappropriate.

The next scream did it for Henry. "What is taking them so long! What the _heck _are they doing to him!" He was about to burst through the doors to find Shawn when the doctor came out those same doors. He and Henry ran right into each other, knocking the other one back a little. Henry recovered more quickly than the doctor and was very quick to pounce on him, asking him for the news. Just as the doctor was about to speak, Juliet, Lassiter, and Chief Vic burst in.

"Good timing," Gus whispered to Juliet. She smiled a little and took her place between him and Lassiter.

The doctor began. "After doing extensive tests," Henry made a scoffing noise loud enough for them all to hear, "we can't seem to find exactly what's wrong with Mr. Spencer."

"You've got to be _kidding _me!" Henry was in a rage. "You spend three hours _torturing _my son and you can't even find out what's wrong with him?" Maddie lay her hand on Henry's shoulder.

"Henry…"

"Don't you dare _Henry _me Maddie! This is serious! There's obviously something wrong with the kid!" Henry yelled back.

Gus was the only one to notice the doctor trying to speak. "Doctor, I believe you have more to say?" he stepped in.

"Ahem…" the doctor cleared his throat. "Yes, I do have something else. Mr. Spencer I said that we cannot pinpoint _exactly _what's wrong with your son. However I can give you my best guess. I'm not sure what happened to him in there but he has some serious brain damage from the beatings he took and he seems to have gone…well the best way I can explain it is that his brain has built up a dam to keep the thoughts about his imprisonment out. Every time we say or do something that reminds him of his…err…_experience_…he is forced to push _everything _back to keep the memories from coming.

And when I say everything I really mean _everything. _He doesn't seem to be able to – or want to for that matter – remember anything past his fifth birthday. Now I should clarify that he still has basic skills such as reading and writing, but he won't be quite the same. Until he can get well enough to deal with remembering he will act…well he will act like a toddler."

There was no sound in the room until Lassiter muttered, "Doesn't he already?" Juliet elbowed him in the side, but his face was as pale as everyone else's.

"What do you suggest we do, doctor?" Maddie asked, pushing in front of the stunned-silent Henry.

"In my professional opinion I would just play along with him. In time, he will get better. Don't talk about the past too much. I'll give you a prescription in case he has a panic attack, but there isn't much else I can do. You need to try and keep him calm so he doesn't hurt himself. I must admit, we had to re-wrap his chest because he pulled one of his ribs out of alignment again."

Gus' face turned a shade lighter than it already was.

"I'm going to release him in the morning," the doctor told them. "There's not much more the hospital can do for him. He just needs time to recover: both physically and mentally. Bring him back in a month if there are no complications. I'll check up on him then. Come on back to the room while I get the papers."

In stunned silence, the six adults followed the doctor back to Shawn's room.

"Hi Spence," Henry whispered. Shawn was fast asleep, curled up in his bed. Henry shook him gently. "Spence, time to get up. We're going home."

X X X X X X X X X

Henry parked his truck quickly and ran around the car to help Shawn out of the back seat. Juliet had ridden with Gus and Lassiter and the Chief had gone back to the station. Maddie grabbed Shawn's crutches and they eased him out of the back.

A smile lit up Shawn's face. "Daddy, we're home!" he called to his dad excitedly.

"Yes Spence, yes. We're home." Shawn hopped as quickly as he could into the house. Strangely enough he didn't seem fazed by the changes the house had gone through since his childhood. Suddenly a terrifying thought shot through Henry's brain.

"Spence, let's get you upstairs to your room. You look tired." Henry led him upstairs, away from the prying eyes of his mother, best friend, and girlfriend. As soon as they reached his room Henry pushed him down onto his bed. "Spence look at me. We're just going to do a little test." Shawn winced. "No, no, it will be nothing like the ones that those doctors did. And there's no need to tell your mother about this, alright?"

Shawn winked and grinned. "My lips are sealed Daddy."

"Alright Spence…" Henry searched for something that would suit his purpose. The prescription that the doctor had given would work quite nicely. He held it in his fist and looked into Shawn's big eyes. They were so much more innocent than they had always been. He tried to think back to when Shawn was actually five. The two of them had started fighting so early he couldn't even remember a time that they hadn't clashed. For the first time he wondered if it was because Shawn was too much like him. He had always blamed it on Maddie. But maybe he could have lightened up a bit…suddenly what he was about to do didn't matter as much as it had before.

"You know what Spence? Go ahead and rest. We'll talk about this in the morning." Shawn nodded and whipped his T-shirt off. Henry couldn't help cringing a little at the bandages that covered his whole chest. There was barely any skin visible. The hospital had also wrapped Shawn's arms and legs, effectively making him look a lot like a mummy.

Shawn fell backwards onto the pillow and closed his eyes. Henry pulled the covers up over him. "Hey Daddy?"

"Yes Sha – uh Spence?"

"Thank you. For everything." The sincerity in his voice made Henry actually take a step back. It had been such a long time since Shawn had thanked him without sarcasm.

"Um…you're welcome Spence. Good night…" Henry flicked the lights off.

Shawn yawned and mumbled, "Love you Daddy," before instantly falling into a deep sleep.

"I love you too Shawn," Henry whispered into the darkness.

**Well there you go. Henry's got a second chanse with Shawn...err...Spence and Gus and Jules just really need some time with this new Shawn. And has ANYONE figured out what they're missing? Like someone who was there at the begining and now has suddenly just disapeared from the story? Anyone...Anyone...Bueller...? Now...just because you put syrup on something don't make it pancakes! Review! :D (Yeah I've been using that line like once a day since the last episode) :) But seriously, REVIEW! We're getting closer to 100! :D :D :D**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello everyone! I'm alive! :D I know...I know...it's been a while. School has officially overtaken me. :) For those of you who cared, competition went REALLY well! We got third in the nation in handbells, and my friend got third for her percussion solo, another one of my friends got second for his tuba solo and another got first for female vocal solo! AAANNNDDD...OUR CHOIR GOT FIRST IN THE NATION! Woot-woot! We've never won before (we hadn't ever even place till last year when we got 3rd) so it's kind of a big deal. Plus it's my senior year so...yeah it's cool. :D Anyway...none of you care about my personal life. You're here because you like Psych. And there were some pretty big things that happened in the Psych universe while I was MIA too! *SPOILER ALLERT SPOLIER ALLERT* ...OH MY GOSH HENRY GOT SHOT! Did ANYONE see that coming? Cuz I sure didn't! Well I mean not until he was talking to Shawn and then he gave Shawn his knife...then I was like "OH NO...Something bad is about to happen..." But seriously! He got SHOT? Ok...I'm done with my author's rant now. :) This chapter is intence, but it was kinda fun to write. Enjoy it! :D**

Chapter 12

"Spence...Spence…man…uh…it's time to wake up...uh...Spence?"

"Spence! Get your butt out of bed this instant!"

Shawn sat bolt upright in bed with a little shriek. Gus backed away timidly, but Henry marched right up to him.

"Spence, you are fine. You're at home. See? It's just your room. And it's just Gus and I. But you need to get your lazy butt out of bed. It's almost noon and you've been sleeping since nine. Come on, get up."

Shawn spent a few more moments looking around before he finally gave in and threw the sheets off. He looked down at his chest and shivered a little.

"It's ok Spence." Henry grabbed his arm and forced him to lift his head and look into his father's eyes. "Spence, look at me, ok? It's just Daddy. It's just me Spence. Everything's going to be ok."

Gus quietly excused himself and escaped downstairs.

Shawn nodded and Henry helped him get dressed. It had been a hard couple of days. Every morning went like this...him having to wake up Shawn with loud curt orders and Shawn responding by panic. Henry had been learning what things to say and not say, but he still messed up sometimes.

Gus on the other hand, avoided Shawn like the plague. Henry knew it was just because Gus was afraid of hurting his friend, but it was still hard to see Gus so upset and Shawn so alone. Today was the first day Gus had come to the house, and so far, it wasn't going so well.

"Mr. Gus? Is he...?" Shawn trailed off and Henry smiled a little. Shawn's condition had been improving. He was re-learning everyone's names at a very fast rate. Although Henry still hadn't found out if…he shook his head. It didn't matter. He had gotten a second chance with his son and he wasn't going to screw that up too.

"He's staying for lunch, yes. And maybe you two can go out and do something later if you want to. We've got to go down to the station at five today. The chief wants to meet with you."

Shawn nodded and followed his dad down the stairs. Gus was sitting on the couch and jumped up when Shawn and Henry came down.

"Time for lunch?" Gus asked like nothing had happened.

Henry sighed and went to go get the food.

Gus sat quietly as they ate, perfectly content with staring at his steak instead of the man-boy sitting next to him. He made light conversation with Henry, but he grew stiff every time Shawn shifted and he flinched every time their arms touched. Finally Henry had had enough.

"For goodness sakes, he's not made of glass Gus! Would you just treat him normally?"

Gus winced at Henry's volume and shot a quick look over at Shawn. But Shawn didn't seem to be paying attention to Henry. Instead he was staring at Gus' plate…

Suddenly Shawn's hand shot out and grabbed the roll that was balanced on the side of Gus' plate. Just as quickly Gus instinctively reached out and slapped the top of Shawn's hand. Shawn retracted his hand, pouting a little and Gus' eyes widened as he saw the bandages on the top of his friend's hand. Had he hurt Shawn?

Then, as quickly as he had shot his hand out, a huge smile spread over Shawn's face and he started laughing. It was the most beautiful sound Gus had ever heard. He tipped his head back and laughed with his best friend. Even Henry chuckled a little. It was just like old times.

But then Gus made his mistake. The one he had been afraid of making since he saw Shawn in the hospital room. "Don't you touch my food Shawn! You know what you'll get from me!" He smiled and Henry smiled and neither of them realized that Gus had done anything wrong until Shawn took a heavy breath and rubbed small circles against his temple. Then Gus realized what he had done.

"Oh my gosh, _Spence_, I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking…I just…I'm so sorry!"

Shawn looked genuinely disappointed that the fun had come to an end. He shook his head and smiled weakly. "It's ok Mr. Gus. I've just got a little bit of a headache, that's all. I don't really feel well today anyway." He stumbled a little as he hobbled up the stairs with his crutches, but he held it together until he got to his bedroom. Then he curled up on his bed and cried as quietly as he could into his pillow.

"Spence…um…look I really want to make this better ok? I just need to practice. And I'd really like to still go out…at least for pineapple smoothies or something. Maybe some Skittles? What do you say?" Shawn didn't raise his head to look at the door where Gus stood. Gus cleared his throat and kept talking. "You'll like my car. It's blue and…well it's nice I guess. We can go wherever you want."

Shawn sat up, but didn't look at Gus. "It's not your fault Mr. Gus. I just…my head just hurts sometimes when people say my name. I don't know why…it's just…I'd like to still go out too. I think we'll have fun. And I've never had a pineapple smoothie before but it sounds really good. And I want to ride in your blue car. And…I just want to go have fun Mr. Gus."

"Well, it's good to see that hasn't changed." Gus grinned. "Let's go. Oh and…Spence? Please just call me Gus. Drop the Mr."

Shawn looked up at him and smiled. "You got it Gus."

X X X X X X X X X X X X

Henry sat on the couch and tried to relax. The TV was on, but he wasn't really watching. He felt like he had been disconnected from the rest of the world for the past few days. Shawn was his only concern right now.

He jumped a little when his phone rang. He checked the caller ID, something he rarely did, but right now he didn't have time for frivolous phone calls. It was Maddie.

"Hello?"

"Henry I just got a call. I'm going to have to head out of town for a few weeks. I'll be back in two weeks but I've got to leave today. Do you think you could bring my suitcase down and have it ready? I'll be to the house soon."

At first he felt like getting upset. This was when he needed her the most. This was the critical stage. But she had work and he understood that she couldn't get fired.

"Sure Maddie, that's fine. I'll be waiting with it when you get here."

He hung up and made his way up the guest room. Her suitcase was almost completely packed and he smiled sadly. There was Maddie, always ready to leave in a moment's notice. Shawn used to be like that too. But he had changed with the years. He had become…Henry hesitated to say more mature, but more…grounded maybe. More attached to one place. And now…

He shook his head and hauled the suitcase back down the stairs. He set it by the door, all ready for Maddie when she came to say goodbye.

It wasn't long before she was there, there with that smile and those sparkling eyes. He handed her suitcase to her and she said goodbye and then she was gone. Gone just like she had been ten years ago. And he sank back down onto his couch and continued to stare at the TV.

X X X X X X X X X X

"And then she actually had the nerve to call me the next day and ask me to help her with her homework!" Shawn…Spence was bent over with his face almost on the table, laughing until his sides hurt.

"Seriously? Gus that's horrible!" He said his friend's name like it was a new word coming off of his tongue but he grinned as he said it.

"I know!" Gus was laughing too and he looked ten times more relaxed than he had at the Spencer's house.

"Ok, try this one!" Shawn handed Gus a Skittle and Gus popped it in his mouth. Shawn found one of the same color and ate that one. They both contemplated for a moment and then Shawn blurted, "Raspberry," right as Gus said "Apple."

"Man, I hate these things. I can't tell which are which." Gus shook his head and picked up the teal bag of Skittles.

"Yeah, but they're so good! And they compliment our smoothies quite nicely," Shawn grinned.

"You know that's right," Gus nodded and they fist-bumped, Gus being careful not to hurt Shawn's hand.

Gus checked his phone and sighed. "It's about time to head over to the station Spence. You ready to go?"

Shawn rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I don't know what they want me over there for. I don't even think Mr. Lassiter likes me."

Gus laughed to himself and shrugged. "They probably just want to ask you a couple questions. I'm sure you'll be fine."

Shawn nodded and looked relieved. "Do you think Miss Juliet will be there?"

"I'm sure she will. She works there almost every day."

A grin lit up Shawn's face. "Good. She's pretty. I like her." His smile fell. "She never talks to me though."

"I'm sure it's just because she's nervous. I was nervous too you know. Today when I came I was really nervous."

"But now you're not!" Shawn hopped along side of Gus as they made their way out of the café. "Now you like me, right Mr.…I mean…Gus?"

"Of course I do Spence." Gus smiled although it didn't quite reach his eyes. "You're my best friend Spence. Of course I do."

X X X X X X X X X X

"No. There is absolutely no way you are going to put my son in that interrogation room. He's tired from his trip out with Gus today already. Maybe he can come in tomorrow."

Henry Spencer stood in the chief's office looking extremely flustered.

"He doesn't look too tired to me Henry," Karen pointed behind Henry through the window to where Shawn sat in his dad's chair, making Gus spin him around in circles.

Henry sighed and ran his hands over his head. "I just don't want him in there Karen. It's not…it's just…it's too much like a cell. I don't think he can handle it!"

Karen gave him a motherly look that was rare to see from her while she was on the job. "You don't think _he _can handle it or you don't think _you _can handle it? Henry you're worn out. Go home. Get some rest. I'll have Lassiter and O'Hara take him for a walk down by the pier. They'll talk to him and then Guster can take him home." Henry looked doubtful but she insisted. "The court case for Brachman is in two weeks and we need all the information we can get."

Henry finally yielded and Karen called Carlton and Juliet in to tell them what to do. Henry watched as they left the station on either side of Shawn. And then he yielded to Karen's pleading and went home to get some sleep.

Meanwhile, the three people had reached the beach and were walking (and hobbling) along the sidewalk slowly. Juliet was surprisingly quiet, trying to watch the sunset and not how beautiful it looked reflected in Shawn…no _Spence's _eyes. Carlton had held in his questions until now, but they finally came pouring out.

"So, Spence, what can you tell me about what happened to you last week?" Shawn looked confused.

"I don't know…I…um…Oooo! Look Mr. Lassiter! There's the ice cream guy! Can I get ice cream? Can I can I can I? Please Mr. Lassiter! Pleeeeeeaaaase?" Carlton sighed and rolled his eyes.

"O'Hara, get him some ice cream. Spence, you can have it when you answer my question."

"What question?" Shawn asked innocently.

"What do you remember about what happened last week? Do you remember anything at all?"

Shawn shook his head. "I woke up in the hospital. Daddy was there. And then Miss Juliet came," he stopped to gawk at her for a moment as she paid the ice cream man, "and then Mr. Gus came. And then you came! And you didn't like me very much."

Carlton sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "So you don't remember anything?"

Shawn shook his head "no" again.

"Spence, you're not even trying. Try. What do you remember? Do you remember anyone named Max Brachman?"

There was an obvious change that came over Shawn's face. His eyes widened and a look of pure terror flashed across his face. However, he shook his head again. "No."

"Spencer, don't lie to me! I know you do! I can see it all over your face! You know, withholding information from a police officer is a federal offence! I could have you arrested. What do you know about Max?"

"I don't know anything!" Shawn's voice had raised in volume level enough that a few people glanced over at him.

"Listen here Spencer, I need your statement! If I can get it we can nail this guy! We can put him in jail for life! Just tell me if you know who he is. Do you know him, yes or no?"

Shawn's eyes were closed now, but he nodded. "Yes," he mumbled.

"And did he or did he not torture you?"

Shawn collapsed onto his knees on the ground, a scream escaping his lips as he hit the concrete. His crutches bounced and lay forgotten at his sides. His head was in his hands and he was moaning quietly.

"Spencer?" Lassiter wore a horrified expression. "Spencer?" Shawn stayed where he was, but his moaning grew louder and he was starting to shiver. "Dang it Spencer, listen to me! We need to know this! Did he torture you? I need to hear it from your mouth!" Shawn only groaned in response. "Dang it Spencer, tell me now!" Lassiter yelled at his hunched-over form.

He didn't look at Lassiter as he took deep gulping breaths. "Yes Mr. Lassiter. Yes, he did," he whispered with hatred in his voice. Then he fell forward into a crawling position and started to vomit all over the sidewalk.

"Oh Sweet Lady Justice!" Lassiter yelled as some of the contents of Shawn's stomach got on his shoes.

"Carlton!" Juliet was there in an instant, ice cream forgotten.

"What O'Hara?" he snapped back.

"You pushed him too far! Just like The Chief told you not to!"

"_I _pushed him too far huh?"

"Yes! If you hadn't been screaming at him –"

"At least I've been speaking to him! And we got the information, didn't we? That's what really matters!" Lassiter yelled back.

"No it's not!" she argued. "This is _Shawn _Carlton, not some random stranger! He –"

She was cut off as Shawn let out a scream from the ground.

"Spence!" she called, argument completely forgotten, but he screamed again before she could reach him. A crowd had begun to gather and a few people had pulled out their phones to call 911 when he screamed a third time.

Juliet ran to Shawn's side and wrapped her arms around him. His was still on his hands and knees but he was so weak that she was able to pull him over. He buried his head in her shoulder and let out a few tearless sobs. He was shaking violently and she held him tightly whispering soothingly into his ear.

"Shhh…it'll be ok Spence. You're safe now. It'll be ok."

The paramedics arrived only a few minutes later. They tried to help Shawn but every time they got too close he would scream and lash out at them. Juliet tried to convince him to go to them, but he just clung more tightly to her.

Suddenly he pushed away from Juliet. His breathing was quick and shallow and sweat beaded on his forehead. His eyes were squeezed shut so tightly it looked painful. And then he passed out.

**Cliffy! Yeah...I'm mean cuz next weekend is exams...then senior trip...then graduation...then vacation...THEN summer and another chapter. So yeah. I'll do my best to get it up ASAP though. Review! Let me know how you liked it! Oh and let me know what you think is going to happen to Henry! My dad thinks he's dead, and my mom says he was wearing a bullet-proof vest, and I have no idea. I'm just hoping he's still alive! Henry, you can't leave now! Shawn still needs you! :'( Anyway...REVIEW! :D**


	13. Chapter 13

**Who's a bum…I know…THIS GIRL! I'm sooooo sorry guys. Those of you that posted comments know that I promised this chapter would be up this week. And it was! Barely, but it was! Ok, so first and most importantly, a HUGE THANK YOU to you guys! Especially my new followers who put my review count at over 100! You guys are awesome! As promised, I want to give a shout-out to my 100th reviewer, unobtrusivescribe! Thanks so much you guys! I love you all! Secondly, don't worry about going back chapters to try to remember which story this is…I know that when someone posts a chapter and it's been a while since their last one, I tend to forget what the story was orriginally about! Maybe that's just me, but I did put a summary in there just so you guys would remember. :) Third, yes, this chapter is pretty short, and I'm stuck with another hospital chapter, but this will (hopefully) be the last of those! And forth, watch out for the Batman: The Dark Night Rises reference in here! Imaginary pineapple to whoever finds it and tells me in their comments! :) Ok, enough chatter from me, enjoy!**

Chapter 13

"His leg has suffered another two fractures. He also seems to have re-broken one of his ribs. He will of course be in some pain from the exertion. They've given him painkillers. Mentally though, we're back to square one. He doesn't remember anything."

Gus groaned from the other side of the phone. He turned the blueberry down the street that the hospital was on. By now, the drive to the hospital was automatic.

"Hang on Mr. Spencer. I'm pulling into the parking lot now. I'll be right in." He hung up the phone and pulled into the first parking space he saw. Several days here had taught him that it wasn't really worth searching for a better parking spot. Best to leave the close spots for the sick people anyway he figured.

He sat for a moment after he turned the car off and tried to breathe. Everything had just happened so fast. One minute he was with Shawn in the station, thinking about how much his friend had improved, and the next he was at the hospital to see the original "Spence" again. He sighed and stepped out of the car into the rain that was so scarce in Santa Barbara. Normally it would brighten his mood to know that the plants would be greener soon. Now it just made everything seem gloomy. When he entered the hospital he was surprised to see Juliet sitting in the waiting room. There was no sight of Henry.

She was a mess. He knew it wasn't very kind but he couldn't help thinking it. Half of her hair had fallen out of its usually tight bun, her suit jacket had been lost somewhere along the way leaving her in a light blue tank top. Her pants were torn and covered in dirt and her heels looked like she had just run a mile through mud.

"Hi Juliet," he said quietly and her head jerked up. Only then did he realize that she must have fallen asleep.

"Hey Gus." She tried to act nonchalant but Gus could still see the tear marks on her cheeks.

"Just coming to check up on Shawn. Henry called."

She nodded. "Yeah, Henry's in the room now. You can go if you want."

"Are you coming?" he asked, extending his hand to help her up.

"I…um…I just…"

He cut her off. "Juliet look. I know you've been…well, nervous around Shawn…_Spence_, but you need to make an effort. I'm not trying to be harsh because, well, frankly I was _terrified _of the guy up until yesterday. But I found out that once I tried, he really opened up to me. I was able to bring him back a little. So just do me a favor and at least talk to him. Maybe not now, but once he's out of the hospital at least." Gus stopped talking and waited to see what Juliet's reaction to his words would be.

Her blue eyes were deep and full of emotion as she nodded. "All right Gus. Shawn loves you and I love Shawn so I will try. For his sake and for yours."

Gus nodded happily and gave Juliet a small smile. "So let's go see him ok?"

"Ok." She took his hand and stood up and then they headed down the hall.

X

Carlton Lassiter ran his hands through his hair for the millionth time. The paperwork from this case was scattered all over his desk. He just couldn't seem to put the pieces together. He tried to review everything that he knew.

So Brachman posts online that he wants someone to pick up Shawn Spencer. James Montgomery answers his add and picks up Spencer in his SUV. He delivers Shawn and then Brachman shoots him and drives the SUV to the river where he dumps Montgomery's body. He then abandons the vehicle in a parking lot. He tortures Shawn for no particular reason. He somehow knows Marlowe's name and information…possibly Shawn had given it to him? Brachman decides he is done with Spencer and tries to kill him and he himself intervenes at the last minute and saves Spencer's life. And now? They have Brachman but his gut is telling him that they're missing something. Something important. Something huge. Maybe…

The ringing of his phone interrupted his thoughts and scared the crap out of him in the process. He grabbed his phone, heart still beating wildly. He flipped it open.

"Head Detective, Carlton Lassiter."

"Yes, Detective Lassiter, you are listed as the emergency contact for Marlowe Viccellio. Is that correct sir?"

His heart beat faster. No. This could not be happening.

"Yes," was his curt reply.

"There was a fight at the prison. I'm sorry to inform you that Miss Viccellio was wounded during this fight and has been sent to ICU at Santa Barbara General. We would like your permission to do a surgery."

"A surgery? How hard did she get hit?"

"It's not the hits we're worried about sir. Miss Viccellio was stabbed."

Lassiter's face paled and his breath hitched. "Absolutely. Do the surgery. I'll be there in a few minutes." He was grabbing his jacket with shaking hands even as he said it.

He was running full speed when the chief grabbed his arm.

"Where do you think you're going Lassiter?"

"There was a fight at the prison. Marlowe was stabbed. I have to go to the hospital!" She nodded and he ran out.

He got to his car and fumbled in his pocket for his keys. His hands were shaking and he dropped them on the ground. He grabbed them and jumped into his car. He sat for a moment. No point in getting into a crash because he was frazzled. That wouldn't help Marlowe any. He took a deep breath and flicked on his siren. Sure he _technically _wasn't supposed to do that, and sure he got on the other cops and detectives when they did but this was kind of an emergency, right? He shook his head and let it go. It wasn't really important now.

He raced to the hospital, taking full advantage of the clear road. It finally occurred to him that Marlowe was in surgery and there wasn't much he could do, but by then he was already sitting in the waiting room.

Dang, he hated this room. And he hated Brachman. There was no doubt in his mind that that guy had something to do with this. It was no coincidence that Brachman had spoken about Marlowe and then she had ended up in the hospital. He was a detective. He didn't believe in coincidences.

He sat very still and stared down at the floor. This had to be one of the crappiest weeks of his life. Maybe this was payback for what he had done to Spencer. He was in deep trouble for that. _Deep _trouble. And as much as he hated to admit it, he was really sorry for what he had done. He hadn't meant to hurt the man, just shake him up enough to get him to talk.

It didn't help that Juliet hadn't been herself since Shawn had been taken. It was making him snippy. He didn't like watching Spencer hurt her and knowing that there was nothing he could do about it. And there was that other problem of the _ring. _He had seen her wearing it around on her neck. Spencer had been about to get serious when things had taken a turn for the worse.

Lassiter sighed and closed his eyes. He knew he couldn't sleep. The guilt was weighing heavily on him as well as the worry about Marlowe. But he was so tired…

There was blood. On the floor, on the walls, everywhere. Most of it was pooled around a figure on the floor. He knew this picture. He knew who it was. He tried to look away but he couldn't tear his eyes off of it. Spencer lay there, lifeless and weak. He tried to steady his gun hand but he was shaking like a leaf. He couldn't do this. Not now. Another figure appeared. Brachman.

"Drop your gun," his voice was shaking. Carlton Lassiter was weak. No. Carlton Lassiter was never weak. "Drop your gun or I'll shoot."

Brachman's voice was cool and collected. "You think you're the only one who knows things Detective…Lassiter I believe it is?"

"No. No! Shut up! Shut up or I will shoot!"

"You have a girlfriend, I know that. Prisoner number 495. Her name is Marlowe."

His hand tightened on the trigger.

"There's something you're missing detective, and it's big. Oh, it's very big."

He shot. The bullet ripped through the man's chest and he fell to the ground, his maniacal laughter ringing through the room.

"Oh detective," he whispered, "you shouldn't have."

Then his face changed. Instead of the steel gray eyes of Max Brachman, the eyes were blue, like the sea. And they were filled with pain.

"O'Hara?"

"Carlton?"

"O'Hara, I'm so sorry!"

"Carlton? Wha –"

"O'Hara? Juliet!"

"Carlton…it's ok…" her voice was fading.

"O'Hara!"

"Carlton?"

"Carlton?"

He jerked awake. Juliet stood over him, her face close to his and her eyes worried.

"O'Hara?" He reached out and touched her hand.

"Carlton, what are you doing here?"

"Marlowe…" His voice came out weak and shaky. He cleared his throat. "Marlowe was stabbed in a prison riot. She's in surgery now."

"A prison riot? Do you believe that was all it was?"

"Not at all," he shook his head, thankful to have a partner that thought the same way he did.

"Shawn is back to square one. I wasn't sure if you'd heard."

"Yes, I was informed." He closed his eyes. He knew what she wanted him to say but he wasn't sure how ready he was to say it. He opened his eyes and took a deep breath. "I didn't mean to O'Hara. I got too harsh. And…"

"Carlton, it's killing you. I can tell. But I'm not the one you should be apologizing to." He nodded.

"What room is he in? Marlowe is in surgery now. She won't be out for another hour."

"Same as the first time." He nodded again and headed off toward the room. She caught up and walked beside him.

"So…the ring?" He could hardly believe the words had come out of his mouth until he had spoken them and Juliet was looking at him with wide eyes. He looked away awkwardly.

"Found it at Shawn's motorcycle wreck. Figured who else would it be for?" She shrugged like it was no big deal.

"You're not wearing it." He was glad O'Hara wasn't Spencer or he would have certainly gotten a comeback about not stating the obvious.

"He hasn't asked me. I'm just holding onto it for him until he gets around to it." Her hand jumped up to where it hung and she twirled it in her fingers. He took a good look at her.

"O'Hara, you haven't been home since last night." It wasn't so much a question as a statement. He didn't need a 'psychic' vision to tell him that. She was a mess and she looked exhausted. She nodded and confirmed his statement. "O'Hara go home." This one was a command. He even said it in his 'I'm head detective and you have to listen to me because I know what I'm talking about' voice.

And she listened. That was one thing he liked about O'Hara. She knew when he was right and she listened to him. There was something else he liked about her though, the thing that he wouldn't admit to anyone. When she knew he was wrong, she _didn't _listen to him.

But this time she listened. She just nodded. And then they did something that they _never _did. They hugged. He held her and she held him and they really hugged. Maybe it was because they had had a long few weeks. Maybe it was because the people they loved were both in bad shape and in the hospital. And maybe it was just because they knew that the other one needed it. And then Juliet went out to her car and drove home to get a shower and try to get some rest. And Lassiter went to find Shawn.

X

Henry rubbed his eyes with one hand and clicked on the Internet Explorer button with the other. He was out of Shawn's room for a bit to take a break and let Gus have some time alone with Spence. He was proud of the way Gus was handling the situation. He was learning from his mistake the first time and that was good. Henry smiled and shook his head. Gus always had been his other child.

He typed aol's web address into the search bar. He figured he would check his e-mail _before _he went and got his coffee this time. Just to mix things up a bit. He sighed. He hoped Shawn got through this soon. He was getting too used to living in the hospital.

He scrolled down the screen. Junk mail, junk mail, junk mail, spam, junk mail, something from Maddie that he would come back to, junk mail, more spam….

He stopped. There was an e-mail that he would have disregarded as spam had it not had the heading, "A message from Spence to his father." He clicked on it hesitantly, and when it opened he almost wished he hadn't.

"Dear Henry," it read. "I have never been one for formalities so I will just get strait to the point. In the above bar there is a link attached for a video. If you do not want the contents of this video leaked to, say, the SBPD chief, you will leave this case alone. The case is closed. As badly as it may sit with you, you have caught the perpetrator red-handed and it is an easy open and shut case. I know that you have been looking into another angle and to that I say, stop. Believe what your villain says and convict him. Put him in prison and be done with it. If you don't Henry, I will release this video. See for yourself what kind of havoc this would cause. Please give my regards to _Spence. _Sincerely, BB."

Henry quickly clicked on the link. A video opened up and Shawn's voice came through the speakers of the little hospital computer room.

"My name…is Sh…" there was yelling then. "Shawn Spencer…and…_I!_" The "I" came out more pained, like a scream, "I'm…not…" he was panting at this point and there was yelling as someone hit him. "Psychic…" he panted out the last word and the screen went blank, taking the image of a beaten, bruised, bloody Shawn with it.

**Soooo…whacha think? I kinda surprised myself with that ending! Lol. And before you question it, no Shawn doesn't remember telling them that. He actually thinks he didn't…but it was right near the end so he doesn't remember much of anything. We'll get to that. So no, I'm not going against what I've written. :) Ok, PLEASE review! 3 you guys! Thanks!**

**PS: not sure who saw or heard any of the news from Comic Con, but the thing I was the most excited about was that the musical episode of Psych is officially going to be out in Season 7! (that's the one coming up) It'll air out of season, so either between the half-seasons or after the season a little, but it's going to be a two-hour long movie! Steve Franks (the creator, also the one who wrote and performed the theme song and is writing all the orriginal music for this ep.) gave a little snippet of one of the songs during the panel! I'm sure you can find the videos of the panel on youtube and you can also hear James and Dule's orriginal songs "Boom to the Bottom" and "Hey there Roday" as well! ;) Gotta love those guys! Ok, _now _you can go review. :)**


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